NORTH KOREA: A day after offering to talk to North Korea to solve a nuclear crisis, the US yesterday shrugged off Pyongyang's latest volley of fiery rhetoric aimed at Washington.
The official Korean Central News Agency earlier accused Washington of increasing the risks of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, hours after a three-way meeting here on the showdown between Japan, the US and South Korea.
"There is an increasing danger of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula due to the US criminal policy toward the DPRK, [North Korea]" the KCNA said.
The offer of talks was contained in a statement issued after the talks, under a framework known as the Trilateral Co-ordination and Oversight Group (TCOG).
"There is no way to tell if the North Koreans had seen the TCOG statement beforehand, but I don't think anyone is taking this statement as a definitive response to it," said a senior State Department official on condition of anonymity.
The KCNA also accused the US of using the "nuclear issue" to poison attempts at reconciliation between North and South Korea. The KCNA commentary was the first word from Pyongyang since the US offered to hold talks with North Korea. In contrast to recent days, the KCNA made no appeal for talks with Washington and made no reference to the US offer.
The European Commission granted emergency food aid to North Korea yesterday, partly filling a gap left by a shortfall in aid from the US and Japan.
The €9.5 million grant came hours after the US said it would not offer incentives. Nor is Japan contributing to the UN appeal. It is locked in a diplomatic stand-off with North Korea over the nuclear issue and the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang's agents. - (AFP/Reuters)