Korea talks end in stalemate

North Korea restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor last year

North and South Korea have finished cabinet-level talks having made no progress on the standoff over the North's nuclear programme.

Reports said the talks stalled soon after they began on Wednesday, when Pyongyang dismissed Seoul's request that it participate in further multilateral negotiations on the nuclear crisis.

North Korea escalated tensions in the crisis late on Thursday, when it threatened to "physically display" its nuclear deterrent.

Some analysts interpreted the statement as a hint that it would test a nuclear bomb, a move that would dramatically intensify the year-long crisis.

But the US and South Korea dismissed the statement from the North's news agency KCNA as mere sabre-rattling.

North Korea often tries to use brinkmanship to extract aid or other concessions from its negotiating partners.

Seoul and Washington are pushing for further six-party talks with Pyongyang, after negotiations ended in August in Beijing without success.

Raising the stakes

Since the August talks, North Korea has announced it has reprocessed spent fuel rods which can be used to make nuclear weapons, and according to the US, has threatened to test a nuclear bomb.

The North-South statement following the cabinet-level talks carried no mention of the North's nuclear activities.

But a South Korean negotiator said on condition of anonymity that Seoul expressed its "strong regret" about the North's recent behaviour and conveyed the concerns of the international community.

North Korea's threat to "physically display" its nuclear weapons force came as US President George W Bush was set to arrive in Japan as part of an Asian tour in which North Korea's nuclear ambitions are likely to feature heavily.

"When the time comes a measure will be taken to physically disclose the nuclear deterrent," a North Korea foreign ministry spokesman told KCNA, as monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

He said that would end speculation over whether North Korea possesses a nuclear weapons force.

Earlier this month, North Korea said it had a nuclear deterrent and was working to strengthen it, although Western intelligence agencies are unsure whether the claims are a bluff.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's national security adviser said North Korea was trying to raise the stakes in future negotiations.

"This looks like another negotiating card it is playing," Ra Jong-yil told reporters. "They are trying to gain the upper hand in the next round of six-party talks."

US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters in Washington North Korea's statement contained nothing new.

"What it does underscore is the concern that we all have about North Korea's nuclear programme, and the need to work together in a multilateral way... to bring about the complete, irreversible and verifiable end to that programme," said Mr Ereli.

He said that Washington was working for more six-party talks to be held in Beijing in November.

Stalemate

The US wants North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programme, but Pyongyang says it wants a non-aggression treaty first.

It is very difficult to verify North Korea's claims about its nuclear programme, because Pyongyang expelled UN inspectors from the country last year.

It subsequently restarted its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, which some analysts believe is capable of generating enough plutonium for about one weapon per year.

In addition, North Korea earlier this month said it had reprocessed 8,000 spent nuclear rods.

The US believes these are enough to produce a handful more bombs.