N Korea condemns UN 'meddling'

N Korea condemns UN 'meddling'

By Caroline Gluck BBC correspondent in Seoul, South Korea

North Korea fears it will be the next US military target

North Korea has said plans by the United Nations Security Council this week to discuss the crisis over its nuclear programme are a prelude to war - and has threatened to beef up its military forces.

In a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman called the Security Council meeting on Wednesday a provocative act which impeded dialogue and would only aggravate the situation on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang was referred to the UN Security Council after it announced it had expelled UN nuclear inspectors and pulled out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

North Korea said it would not recognise the authority of the Security Council, and has threatened to boost its defences, saying a strong military deterrence is the only way of preventing war with the US and protecting the country's security.

It has also said it had learnt a lesson from the US-led war on Iraq - that allowing disarmament through inspection did not avert, but instead sparked, war.

Diplomatic efforts

The North - which was described as part of an axis of evil, along with Iraq and Iran by US President George W Bush - fears it will be the next US military target - although Washington said it wants to seek a peaceful resolution to the nuclear stand-off.

The closed-door UN Security Council meeting could issue a statement urging the North to dismantle its nuclear programme and allow UN inspectors back in.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan told a local television network that he believed diplomatic efforts by the two Koreas and their neighbours could resolve the nuclear crisis, without involving the UN.

The North wants bilateral talks with the US to resolve the issue; Washington has insisted any discussions must take place in a multi-lateral framework.