Talks offer cover-up for US attack: N Korea

As South Korea appealed to Europe on Tuesday for help in easing the stand-off, North Korea’s envoy in Australia flatly rejected a multilateral approach and poured scorn on the UN nuclear watchdog. ‘‘We are ready to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula peacefully and in a most fair way through the direct and equal negotiations with the US,’’ North’s Ambassador to Australia, Chon Jae Hong, said on Tuesday.

In the North, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage’s statement a week ago that there was ‘‘no question’’ that Washington would hold direct talks, were negated by American threats.

‘‘What should not be overlooked is that US President Bush openly hinted at the US plan for a pre-emptive attack on the DPRK (North Korea)…by saying that all options to settle the nuclear issue are on the table’’, KCNA said.

‘‘This clearly proves that the Bush administration turns away from the proposal to conclude the non-aggression treaty as it aims to invade the DPRK,’’ it said.

North Korea has insisted that the nuclear issue is a bilateral dispute with the US that can only be settled if Washington signs a non-aggression treaty.

Javier Solana, the European Union’s Foreign Policy and Security Chief, told reporters in Seoul the EU hoped to help multilateral efforts to defuse the nuclear row. ‘‘We’ll try to do it in cooperation with (South Korea), with Japan, with other partners and the US,’’ said Solana, whose plan to visit North Korea this week was postponed. The EU has diplomatic relations with North Korea but limited leverage over the country. The EU put off Solana’s mission to Pyongyang because the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was unable to meet the envoy. (Reuters)