March 24
— MOSCOW (Reuters) - North Korea, locked in a standoff with
Washington over its nuclear program, is boosting its own defenses in
view of the U.S.-led drive into Iraq, the country's foreign ministry
was quoted as saying on Monday.
A statement issued by North Korea's Moscow embassy and released
by Interfax news agency said the Iraq campaign "undermined
international order and put peace and security under serious threat
in the Middle East and throughout the world."
"The U.S. use of force against Iraq, as well as military
preparations by the United States and its satellites on the Korean
peninsula, make it clear to us what we must do to prepare fully for
justified self-defense," the statement said.
The statement gave no details on what measures Pyongyang's
secretive communist authorities intended to adopt.
President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea dismissed as groundless on
Monday speculation that North Korea would be the next U.S. war
target. South Korea has backed the U.S. campaign to disarm Iraq and
topple President Saddam Hussein and endorsed a plan to send up to
700 non-combat troops to assist it.
President Bush, in his 2002 State of the Union address, placed
North Korea, Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil" of states holding
and proliferating dangerous weapons.
Authorities in Pyongyang have made a number of moves which have
boosted tension in Asia, including quitting the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty and restarting nuclear facilities shut down
under a 1994 treaty with Washington.
North Korea first reported on the drive into Iraq 24 hours after
it was launched and predicted "disastrous consequences."
Pyongyang's latest statement said North Korea's government "says
'no' to war. Military activities violating the sovereign state's
rights and human rights can in no way be justified."
It said unilateral demands for Iraq to disarm were a "blatant
attack on that country's sovereignty."
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