North Korea vowed today to uphold Kim Jong Il’s son as “supreme commander” as the campaign to install the young man as the next leader of the socialist nation gained pace one week after his father’s death.

Delegates to North Korea’s biggest political meeting in decades were gathering in the country’s capital today amid speculation that leader Kim Jong Il is to appoint one of his sons and other family members to key positions as part of a succession plan.

NORTH Korea’s ruling Communist Party members gathered in Pyongyang yesterday ahead of their largest political conference in 30 years, amid predictions that leader Kim Jong Il would use the meeting to give a key ruling party position to one of his sons.

North Korea condemned a recent US pledge to provide nuclear defence of South Korea, saying today that the move boosts its justification to have atomic bombs and invites a potential “fire shower of nuclear retaliation.”

North Korea warned today of a "thousand-fold" military retaliation against the US and its allies if provoked.

THE US and South Korea put their military forces on high alert yesterday after North Korea renounced the truce keeping the peace between the two Koreas since 1953.

US spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has restarted its nuclear plant, it was reported today.

North Korea has urged its people to make all-out efforts to reap a big harvest this autumn, saying it wants to resolve the country’s chronic food shortage on its own.

North Korea is ready to answer a pre-emptive US military attack with an “annihilating strike and a nuclear war,” state-run media said today.

North Korea declared today it is free to conduct missile tests, saying it is not bound by prior agreements to refrain from testing and that outsiders do not have right to interfere, a news report said.

North Korea today warned that US moves to build a missile shield were fuelling a dangerous arms race in space, as countries in the region urged the communist nation to halt apparent plans to launch a long-range missile.

Opponents of a possible North Korean long-range missile test stepped up a diplomatic drive to stop the launch today, issuing a barrage of warnings to the reclusive nation and threatening retaliation if it went ahead.

North Korea today renewed its commitment to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, while at the same time vowing to strengthen its stockpile of atomic weapons to counter what it called extreme US hostility.

North Korea said today it could not return to international nuclear disarmament talks unless the US lifted sanctions imposed for its alleged currency counterfeiting and other illegal activities.

Negotiators at talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions set to work today on the contentious details of how the North will disarm and what it will get in exchange.

North Korea’s path to prosperity lies in implementing the promise it made at international disarmament talks to abandon its nuclear programmes, South Korean Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said today.

North Korea today dismissed reports that it was preparing a nuclear test, calling them US propaganda, and blamed Washington for the impasse in international talks to disarm the hard-line state.

North Korea today rejected a US-backed proposal on ending a crisis over its nuclear weapons programme, and warned that Washington’s “strategy of delaying talks” would only prompt it to step up its nuclear activities.

After months of diplomacy, the United States, North Korea and four other countries convened an extraordinary six-way meeting today to resolve a dispute over the North’s nuclear programme that has alarmed the entire region.

NORTH KOREA said yesterday the proposed realignment of US forces in South Korea was a prelude to Washington’s plan to launch nuclear war against the communist country.

North Korea acknowledged today that it has a nuclear weapons programme and said it would never give it up without US concessions.

NORTH KOREA vowed yesterday to meet any US-led blockade on the communist state with “limitless” retaliation, saying the flames of war would immediately spread to Japan.

SOUTH Korea urged North Korea yesterday to give up its nuclear programme after US officials said the communist state told Washington it had atomic bombs and could make more.

THE Bush administration says it will seek a diplomatic solution to the stand-off over North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programmes. But the communist nation’s leaders routinely accuse Washington of plotting their downfall.

NORTH Korea yesterday accused the United States of plotting a nuclear attack on the communist country and condemned Washington’s decision to send additional long-range bombers to Guam.

NORTH Korean media yesterday accused the US of pushing into full swing preparations for nuclear war against the communist state, and warned such a war could wreak havoc.

North Korea today warned that if the United States attacked the country the conflict would turn into a nuclear war and cause “nuclear disasters” in Asia and the entire world.

NORTH KOREA marked leader Kim Jong Il’s birthday yesterday by urging the military to be on alert and imploring its people to “burn with hatred” against the United States.

North Korea today warned that a US pre-emptive attack on the North’s nuclear facilities would trigger a “full-scale war” on the volatile Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.

North Korea today said its people and armed forces were all ready to repel what it described as American plans to invade the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea today accused the United States of plotting a war against it, and vowed that it would fight “to the last man”.

The UN nuclear watchdog today deplored North Korea’s decision to remove seals and surveillance cameras from nuclear facilities that Washington says could yield weapons within months.

North Korea is accusing Japan of using the 2002 soccer World Cup and the threat of terrorism to stir up sentiment against it.