PYONGYANG called a US State Department official “human scum” for his criticism of North Korea’s leader, but the communist nation said it would still join talks on its suspected nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea and the United States traded harsh criticism today, with one senior US official describing the communist state as a “hellish nightmare”.

South Korea told its communist neighbour yesterday that it must do more than say it has no plans to develop atomic arms if it was to end the crisis on the peninsula.

A US ENVOY yesterday said the North Korean nuclear crisis would come before the UN Security Council as soon as this week, and South and North Korea held high-level talks that were overshadowed by the dispute.