North Korea has described an offer by the United States to hold talks in a bid end their ongoing nuclear standoff was designed to mislead public opinion.
US President George W Bush has hinted that aid to the famine-hit country could be forthcoming if it agreed to publicly renounce its nuclear ambitions.
"In essence, there is no change in the US conditional stand that it would have dialogue with the DPRK only after it scraps its 'nuclear program'. It is clear that the US talk about dialogue is nothing but a deceptive drama to mislead the world public opinion."
President Bush says North Korea is part of a tripartite 'axis of evil' and tensions between the two countries escalated after the North Koreans re-opened a nuclear power station capable of generating weapons grade plutonium.
AFP
