Suspicion clouds North Korea nuke talks

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.

That apparent conflict creates a backdrop of suspicion as officials from the US, North Korea and China prepare to hold talks in Beijing today. “The US is getting frantic with its nuclear racket to isolate and stifle” North Korea, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary yesterday.

A change of leadership in North Korea is not official US policy, and South Korea, a close ally of Washington, would strongly oppose such a goal because it could risk social upheaval and military conflict.