North Korea vows no nuclear concessions

North Korea vowed yesterday to resist all international demands on the communist state to allow nuclear inspections or agree to disarm, saying Iraq had made this mistake and was now paying the price.

"The DPRK would have already met the same miserable fate as Iraq's had it compromised its revolutionary principle and accepted the demand raised by the imperialists and its followers for 'nuclear inspection' and disarmament," the ruling party daily Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.

DPRK is an acronym for the state's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang's latest comments came as US commanders running the invasion of Iraq ordered a pause in a northward push toward Baghdad due to stiff resistance and short supplies. On the divided Korean peninsula, meanwhile, American and South Korean forces allied against the North conducted field exercises involving mock battles and amphibious landings.

"The DPRK will increase its self-defensive capability and fully demonstrate its might under the uplifted banner of the army-based policy," Rodong Sinmun said.

A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry declined immediate comment.

North Korea shocked the region five years ago when it fired a long-range ballistic missile over Japan, historically a foe of Korea. The North is currently deadlocked with the United States over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons programme.

Earlier yesterday, South Korea's unification minister sought to calm frayed nerves on the peninsula by assuring a parliamentary committee the United States has no intention to attack North Korea.

"Concerns felt by the (South Korean) public and voiced by the media of a potential US attack on North Korea are not based on true facts," another Unification Ministry official quoted Minister Jeong Se-hyun as telling lawmakers.

"There has been no mention by US government officials of an attack against North Korea," Jeong was quoted as saying.

The latest crisis began in October, when US officials said North Korea had admitted covertly working to develop nuclear arms.

Pyongyang insists any nuclear programme it may have would be purely defensive in face of what it perceives as a US military threat to its very existence.

The impoverished Stalinist state has embarked on a campaign to force Washington to enter direct talks and negotiate a non-aggression pact. Washington prefers a multilateral approach.

Over the past month, North Korea has intercepted a US spy plane in international airspace and test-fired two short-range missiles. A Japanese report said the North may soon test-fire a longer-range missile capable of hitting major Japanese cities.