SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea on Sunday stepped up anti-US propaganda with a six-nation nuclear disarmament process bogged down and Pyongyang and Washington in dispute over the delay.
Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling communist party-published newspaper, which serves as an official mouthpiece, lashed out at what it called Washington's strong-arm policy in international affairs.
"It is an anachronistic dream for the US to try to bring to its knees and dominate other countries through high-handed practices," Rodong said.
"Looking back on history, all those who tried to conquer other countries through high-handed practices met a miserable end without exception."
The anti-US rhetoric came with a landmark nuclear disarmament process in North Korea at a stalemate after several months of smooth progress and after relations between Washington and Pyongyang had earlier appeared to be improving.
Under the disarmament deal, the North should have by December 31 disabled its key nuclear facilities and given a full declaration of its nuclear programmes in return for aid from China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US.
But the North failed to meet the deadline having agreed last February to give up its nuclear weapons programmes in return for one million tons of fuel oil or equivalent energy aid, diplomatic benefits and security guarantees.
In a foreign ministry statement Friday, the North said it was near to completing the disabling and gave a full account to the United States in November -- a claim Washington denied.
It accused the other parties of failing to deliver the promised aid and said Washington had yet to keep its word by removing Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The North has received about 150,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 5,000 tonnes of steel as an alternative form of aid, according to Seoul.
The North says it will slow compliance with the deal.
"Looking back on what has been done, one may say that the DPRK is going ahead of others in fulfilling its commitment," Pyongyang's foreign ministry said Friday, referring to North Korea's official name.
It claimed the North "has done what it should do" when it comes to the declaration of its nuclear programmes.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the US was still waiting for North Korea's "complete, full and accurate" account.
Washington says that Pyongyang imported material which could be used in a secret uranium enrichment programme. The North has never publicly admitted any such operation.
Top US envoy Christopher Hill is to arrive in Tokyo Monday to launch a regional tour which will likely focus on efforts to kick-start the long-running negotiations. He travels on to South Korea, China and Russia.
The North's state-run Radio Pyongyang on Sunday continued the propaganda offensive, urging the US to drop its "hostile" policy and also officially end the 1950-1953 Korean War with a peace pact.
"If the US truly wants peace on the Korean peninsula, it has no reason to oppose the change from the armistice to a peace treaty," said Radio Pyongyang, monitored by Seoul's Yonhap news agency.
Under a proposed final phase of the six-nation deal, the North is to dismantle its plants and hand over all nuclear materials in return for diplomatic relations with the US and Japan and a formal peace treaty on the Korean peninsula.
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