January 31, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 27, 1423

SEOUL, Jan 30: North Korea described on Thursday US President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address as an “undisguised declaration of aggression” against the Stalinist state.

In its first official response to Bush’s speech on Tuesday, the North Korean foreign ministry issued a long statement that also described him as a “shameless charlatan”.

“The reckless remarks made by Bush in his official speech dealing with the year’s national policy cannot but reflect the stand and policy of the present US administration,” the ministry said through the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

“This policy speech is, in essence, an undisguised declaration of aggression to topple the DPRK (North Korean) system.”

In his address, Bush said the United States would not be “blackmailed” by North Korea’s threats to develop nuclear weapons in its campaign to get Washington to conclude a bilateral non-aggression treaty.

“Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that the regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along,” Bush said.

“And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions.

“America and the world will not be blackmailed.”

Bush also warned Pyongyang that “nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship”.

“The North Korean regime will find respect in the world, and revival for its people, only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions,” Bush said.

However the North Korean foreign ministry said the United States had more nuclear weapons than any other nation.

“The US was the first to have nuclear weapons and emerged as the world’s largest possessor of weapons of mass destruction,” the ministry statement said.

“Yet it is trying to mislead the public opinion by spreading the rumor that the DPRK is chiefly to blame for the nuclear issue. This is the height of shamelessness.”

The statement said Bush had “earned an ill-fame as an emotional backbiter”.

“His recent address clearly proves that he is a shameless charlatan reversing black and white under the eyes of the world,” the statement said.

The ministry reaffirmed North Korea’s aim despite Bush’s address: a bilateral non-aggression treaty.—AFP