N. Korea Threatens to Scrap Missile, Nuclear Pacts

SEOUL — In a sharp outburst Thursday, North Korea threatened to scrap missile and nuclear accords with Washington and railed against the Bush administration’s plans for a missile defense system.

The new U.S. administration’s foreign and national security teams are adopting a “hard-line stance” toward Pyongyang, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried in English by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Washington wants Pyongyang “to totally disarm itself first. The U.S. is seriously mistaken if it thinks that Pyongyang will accept its demand,” it said.

The statement is a clear warning to President Bush. Although the fundamentals of U.S. policy toward North Korea remain unaltered, there was a marked shift in tone after Bush took office. His senior aides seemed more wary about the prospect of progress and more assertive about the need for concrete gestures of reconciliation from Pyongyang.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the United States expects North Korea to abide by its commitments.

“We do remain concerned about North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs, and we hope that these issues can be dealt with constructively,” Boucher said.