South Korea urges end to row

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.

Isolated North Korea was in belligerent mood, hurling abuse at the United States, which it blames for the crisis, as the standoff overshadowed cabinet-level meetings with counterparts in Seoul that had been supposed to focus on economic co-ordination.

South Korean newspapers saw the statement by chief North Korean delegate Kim Ryong-song that Pyongyang had no plans to build nuclear arms as little more than a ploy to sidestep the issue.