RUSSIA: A top Russian diplomat warned Washington yesterday that the war in Iraq was fuelling North Korea's fears of a US attack and speeding up the isolated Stalinist state's push towards building nuclear weapons.
"Unfortunately, the Iraqi situation is driving the North Koreans to strengthen their defences," said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov.
"The North Koreans have already said that if they feel threatened, they will do whatever is necessary for their protection, including the creation of certain powerful weapons."
Asked if that meant developing nuclear arms, Mr Losyukov said: "That is absolutely clear, and the absence of a negotiating process significantly increases this danger."
Russia favours face-to-face talks between the US and impoverished North Korea, but the White House has rebuffed the idea of giving concessions to a country which President George W. Bush has called part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and Iran.
The White House favours collective talks, involving Russia and South Korea, to resolve a crisis which erupted last October when Washington said North Korea had admitted to running a secret nuclear programme in breach of a 1994 agreement.
Since then, Pyongyang has thrown out international arms inspectors, withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restarted a reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear plant which is capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea said yesterday that US spy flights and involvement in military exercises in South Korea pointed to an imminent attack on Pyongyang.
Russia has repeatedly urged the White House to pay more attention to the sharpening crisis on the Korean peninsula, which was put on edge again yesterday by conflicting reports that Pyongyang had conducted the latest in a series of missile tests.
