North Korea wants rewards for nuclear freeze

NORTH KOREA yesterday poured cold water on a US proposal for a step-by-step resolution to a crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programs, saying only a simultaneous package deal could solve the impasse.

In a statement issued as the United States was working to coax Pyongyang to join nuclear talks, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the communist state would only come to the table if there was some initial aid-for-disarmament deal.

“What is clear is that in no case the DPRK would freeze its nuclear activities unless it is rewarded,” said a statement issued by the North’s KCNA news agency.