United Nations, July 15: North Korea, has accused the United States of taking "unfriendly and hostile" steps against it and warned the security council against taking any action under Washington's pressure. The "hostile acts," it said, included increased military aid to South Korea and deployment of more troops in the area.

North Korean UN ambassador Pak gil Yon delivered this message on behalf of his country to Security Council president Inocencio Arias of Spain in the context of the standoff with Washington on its nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongyang wants direct talks on the issue with the United States, a demand which Pakistan repeated during the july 2 meeting, the details of which were given by arias yesterday after a briefing on the discussions to the council.

Washington would like to deal with the issue multilaterally in which its neighbours are major players.
Arias told reporters that the ambassador had told him that the United States is committing unfriendly and hostile acts and that the situation is deteriorating.

Pakistan also said that the United States should stop these acts and "there should be no pressure on the Security Council about getting any statement or declaration."
The meeting was in the context of the United States pressing the council to issue a statement condemning North Korea which is reported to be pursuing nuclear weapons programme. But Russia and China, who strongly oppose this course, have thwarted efforts towards a consensus statement. In October, US officials had said North Korea had conceded that it was pursuing a covert nuclear programme.

Bureau Report