Pyeongyang warns that it, too, has the ability to 'strike'

North Korea said Friday that U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address was little less than a declaration of war and warned that the "strike" option was not available only to the United States.

The North's fierce response is expected to exacerbate tensions between the United States and North Korea, and to cast a shadow on inter-Korean affairs as well.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman released a statement through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, saying, "There has been no precedent in the modern history of DPRK-U.S. relations for the U.S. president's policy speech in which he made undisguised threats of aggression against the DPRK, an independent and sovereign state. This is, in fact, little short of a declaration of war against the DPRK.

"Mr. Bush's remarks clearly show what real aim the U.S. sought when it proposed to resume talks with the DPRK recently and why the present U.S. administration ruled out even the possibility of seeking a negotiated settlement of the nuclear and missile issues created in the period of the preceding administration. We are sharply watching the United States moves that have pushed the situation to the brink of war after throwing away even the mask of 'dialogue' and 'negotiation.'

"The option to 'strike' impudently advocated by the United States is not its monopoly," the statement warned.

An analyst at the South Korean Unification Ministry called the statement an expression of discontent toward the U.S. hard-line stance, but added, "We do not expect it to lead to confrontation be-tween the two countries. "However, we expect it will have repercussions on inter-Korean dialogue - such as the North shunning dialogue."

Mr. Bush and his senior officials, meanwhile, worked to garner international support against the Iran, Iraq and North Korea "axis of evil."

"The rest of the world needs to be with us, because these weapons could be pointed at them just as easily as at us," Mr. Bush said Thursday (Eastern Standard Time) in Florida.

The White House national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the United States might strengthen nonproliferation agreements and use its new relationship with Russia to block the three rogue states' access to weapons technology.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to meet with foreign leaders including South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo on Friday.

by Lee Young-jong