Forums - North Korea Says "Too Bad" Over US Nuclear Abandonment Proposal

Forums - North Korea Says "Too Bad" Over US Nuclear Abandonment Proposal: "North Korea Nixes U.S. Nuclear Proposal

BY: By SANG-HUN CHOE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Saturday July 24, 2004

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea on Saturday rejected a U.S. suggestion that it follow the example of Libya and abandon its nuclear weapons programs to open the way for economic aid and improved ties with Washington.

Calling the American proposal 'nothing but a sham offer,' the communist state reiterated that it would freeze its nuclear facilities as a first step toward their dismantling, but only if Washington provides energy aid, lifts economic sanctions and delists the North as a sponsor of terrorism.

'It is a daydream for the U.S. to contemplate forcing the (North) to lay down arms first under the situation where both are in a state of armistice and at war technically,' said an unidentified spokesman of the North's Foreign Ministry."