North Korea will never dismantle its nuclear arsenal and will not resume talks on its atomic programmes unless the United States drops its "hostile" policy, the North's official KCNA news agency said on Saturday.
In a rare commentary that carries considerable weight, KCNA said disclosures about unsanctioned nuclear experiments in South Korea in 2000 and 1982 showed Washington applied double standards, criticising the North but understanding the South.
"It is self-evident that the resumption of the talks can no longer be discussed unless the US drops its hostile policy based on double standards toward the DPRK and that the latter can never dismantle its nuclear deterrent force," said KCNA.
The North's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
A commentary from KCNA carries an official imprimatur but also allows Pyongyang the ambiguity to offer a different interpretation through diplomatic channels.
The United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have been seeking at so far fruitless six-party talks to persuade North Korea to give up its atomic ambitions completely in exchange for security guarantees and energy aid.
Washington also accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear arms, a charge Tehran denies.
The UN International Atomic Energy Agency met in Vienna on Saturday to debate a toughly-worded resolution by France, Britain and Germany demanding Iran immediately freeze its uranium enrichment programme.
North Korea has rejected Washington's demand for complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of its projects.
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