North Korea today condemned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as having no position to discuss the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.
"It is . . . an objective reality that the secretariat of the IAEA is not in a position to discuss the DPRK's [North Korea] issue and the days are gone, never to return, when it could unreasonably handle it," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Calling the IAEA the "cat's paw" of the United States, KCNA said the efforts of its director, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, to seek international talks after Pyongyang's withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty "only put indelible stain on his reputation and image".
The remarks appear timed as a pre-emptive warning to the Vienna-based watchdog as it discusses a date for an emergency session on this month's decision by Pyongyang to pull out of a global treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.The IAEA is expected to decide this week on an emergency session focusing on how to respond to North Korea's nuclear plans.