N. Korea hits out at US over nuclear row: reports

North Korea's number-two leader slammed the United States on Thursday for singling out his country's uranium enrichment programme in a drive against nuclear proliferation, reports said.

"Not only our country but other countries in the world are enriching uranium," Kim Yong-Nam, the president of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's parliament, told Japanese media in Pyongyang, according to Kyodo news agency.

"But the problem is why the world pays attention only to the uranium enrichment programme of our country," added Kim, who is considered a nominal head of state in the communist country ruled by paramount leader Kim Jong-Il.

Kim Yong-Nam said Washington was singling out the North Korean programme in an effort to guide world opinion against Pyongyang, according to Kyodo. The broadcaster NHK also reported Kim's comments.

He attributed such action to Washington's "wily" desire to disturb Pyongyang's exchanges and cooperation with other countries.

North Korea has insisted that its uranium enrichment programme, which was disclosed last November, is a peaceful energy project. But experts say it could easily be reconfigured to produce weapons-grade uranium to augment the country's plutonium stockpile.

Six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament, involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, have been at a standstill since December 2008.

The communist North has repeatedly expressed a desire to go back to talks, but Washington has urged it to show more sincerity and mend ties with Seoul first.

On North Korea's stalled ties with neighbouring Japan, Kim said Pyongyang was closely watching Yoshihiko Noda, who was elected Japan's new prime minister on Tuesday.

"We don't yet know whether (Noda) will move toward a positive direction to improve (North) Korea-Japan relations or follow the same path of previous governments" in doing little to improve ties, he said.

Tokyo has cooled ties with Pyongyang in protest at its nuclear weapons programmes and its reluctance to come clean on the fate of Japanese nationals it admitted to kidnapping in the Cold War years.

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