SEOUL - North Korean officials denied reports that the communist regime was preparing to conduct a nuclear test, a Czech delegation said Wednesday following a visit to Pyongyang this week.
But North Korea was still reluctant to return to six-way talks aimed at winding down its nuclear program despite recent bilateral contact with the United States in New York.
"Officials of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly dismissed the reports (of a nuclear test) as groundless propaganda," Lubomir Zaoralek, chairman of the lower house of the Czech Parliament, told reporters.
Zaoralek and his team stopped over in South Korea following a four-day visit to North Korea.
The six-member Czech delegation met with North Korean leaders, including Pyongyang's number two Kim Yong-Nam and SPA chairman Choe Tae-Bok.
The North Korean officials dismissed speculation that Pyongyang was preparing a nuclear test as Washington's ploy to isolate the communist state, Zaoralek said.
They also urged Washington to drop its "hostile" policy saying Pyongyang could not hold negotiations with "those who try to stifle the DPRK (North Korea)," he said.
North Korea has boycotted six-way talks on ending the standoff over its nuclear program since the third round in June last year. Aside from the United States and North Korea, the dialogue includes China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
After declaring itself nuclear-armed in February, the North said it had unloaded 8,000 spent fuel rods from its nuclear reactor, a step that would allow it to reprocess weapons-grade plutonium for more nuclear bombs.
Recent US media reports, quoting officials in Washington, said there were signs the North was preparing for a nuclear test.
North Korea has officially neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
05/25/2005 10:44 GMT