N Korea 'trying to prevent war'

2003-07-24 09:33

Beijing - North Korea has insisted it is doing all it can to prevent war on the Korean peninsula, but said it was ready to fight to the death if there were a conflict, official Chinese media reported on Thursday.

"The DPRK (North Korea) has made unremitting efforts to prevent the outbreak of war and safeguard peace on the Korean peninsula," said Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of North Korea's Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.

"But the United States has turned down the DPRK proposal for signing a non-aggression treaty."

Yang made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the International Conference for Peace on the Korean peninsula in Pyongyang, China's Xinhua news agency reported from the North Korean capital.

Delegates from dozens of countries and international organizations are attending the three-day meeting, Xinhua said.

Yang was quoted as saying participants "will discuss issues with a view to fundamentally removing the dangerous war crisis on the Korean peninsula caused by the US provocative moves".

"The DPRK has continuously faced military threat and great obstacles to economic development from the United States since the Korean War ended 50 years ago," he said.

Yang stressed that "the peace-loving DPRK army and people will fight to the end in defending the national dignity", Xinhua said.

The North Korean nuclear crisis flared last October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 bilateral accord, and suspended fuel deliveries to the Stalinist state.

China hosted a first round of talks on the crisis in April, and has been trying to broker a second round following claims that Pyongyang has finished processing 8 000 spent nuclear fuel rods, enough to make about six nuclear devices.

Last week, William Perry, who served as US defence secretary under former President Bill Clinton, said he believed the United States and North Korea could be at war as early as this year.

- AFX