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SEOUL: North Korea said it would not dismantle its nuclear weapons until the United States supplied light-water reactors, raising doubts about an agreement heralded as a breakthrough for peace.
Less than 24 hours after North Korea pledged at six-nation talks in Beijing to give up its atomic weapons in return for energy and security guarantees, Pyongyang warned the offer was conditional on US concessions.
In a statement released by its foreign ministry, North Korea said the United States "should not even dream" it would dismantle its nuclear arsenal until Washington had provided the reactors.
US ally Japan immediately rejected Pyongyang's demand as "not acceptable".
South Korea meanwhile convened an urgent cabinet meeting to consider the nuclear standoff and had no immediate response.
Monday's agreement had been cautiously welcomed by world leaders as an important step towards ending the three-year stand-off over North Korea's nuclear weapons, with US President George W. Bush calling it a "positive sign".
The hawkish North Korean comment appeared to be a response to Washington's portrayal of the deal as a breakthrough and a bargaining position ahead of the new round of six-nation talks in November.
The on-and-off talks which opened in August 2003 brought together North and South Korea, Russia, Japan, the United States and hosts China.
In the statement of principle on Monday, North Korea said it would scrap its weapons, return to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and accept international inspectors in return for security guarantees, economic benefits and energy aid.
The statement said North Korea's demand for light-water reactors, earlier ruled out by the United States, would be considered at an "appropriate" time.
US officials have insisted that would happen only after North Korea's nuclear programmes had been scrapped.
"The appropriate time will only come when the DPRK (North Korea) has promptly eliminated all nuclear weapons and all nuclear programmes," said chief US negotiator Christopher Hill.
The energy-starved North's demand for a light-water reactor was the sticking point when the talks broke up last month, even though experts have said the country's crumbling power grid could not handle the power it would generate.
The North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said the provision of the reactors was the key to ending the standoff.
"As clarified in the joint statement, we will return to the NPT and sign the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA and comply with it immediately upon the US provision of LWRs, a basis of confidence-building, to us," he said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura indicated the North Korean demand spelled trouble.
"I suppose such statements would not be accepted," Machimura told reporters in Tokyo. The position "seems to indicate that the second stage of negotiations has already begun."
Analysts agreed a new bargaining stage had started.
"We cannot say Pyongyang is backtracking from the agreement reached on Monday. Today's statement is part of a tactic to occupy the high ground before they sit down to the next round of talks," said North Korean expert Nam Sung-Wook of Korea University.
Nam and other analysts said North Korea, a military state which fields the world's fifth largest army, is gripped by a siege mentality and is motivated by fear.
"North Korea has always been concerned that Washington may not carry out its side of the agreement and Tuesday's statement reflects this concern," said Paik Hak-Soon of the private Sejong Institute.
"We shouldn't over-react to this statement. It is just rhetoric before the talks resume."
Monday's agreement came as a surprise after the talks had deadlocked on the reactor demand. It averted the immediate possibility of Washington taking the issue to the UN Security Council.
The standoff began when the United States accused North Korea in 2002 of running a secret uranium-enrichment programme. North Korea responded by throwing out international inspectors and withdrawing from the NPT.
- AFP /ct
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