North Korea has taken a calculated bargaining risk by announcing for the first time it has nuclear weapons, a South Korean official said on Saturday, after the United States rejected North Korean calls for one-on-one talks. Pyongyang's announcement on Thursday that it had nuclear weapons and was pulling out of six-party talks aimed at curbing its atomic ambitions presents a major challenge to South Korea, its main ally, the United States, and China, which has played a lead role in the disarmament effort.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after discussions with the North Korean and Chinese envoys in Canberra that he saw a reasonable chance that Pyongyang would return to the talks. South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-shik said it was significant that the North had not declared outright it would not return to the negotiating table.
"It seems like North Korea was trying to raise interest and the stakes," Lee was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
"North Korea's statement said it had stopped participating in six-way talks because conditions were not ripe. That indicated there was room for interpretation."
North Korean media declared on Saturday that the United States wanted to invade North Korea to dominate Asia but conservative South Korean dailies said Seoul must not back down to Pyongyang.
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