North Korea pours cold water on nuclear talks

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Wednesday it saw as "unjust" calls from global powers such as the United States for Pyongyang to verify claims it made in disarmament talks about producing arms-grade plutonium. The North's KCNA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman from its Foreign Ministry as also saying that South Korean-U.S. military exercises, which started on Monday, had spoiled the atmosphere for the disarmament discussions. "This situation compels the DPRK (North Korea) to heighten vigilance against such unjust demands as the 'verification in line with the international standard' recently claimed by the U.S. as regards the nuclear issue," the spokesman said. In late June, North Korea presented a long-delayed accounting of its atomic programme as part of an aid-for-denuclearisation deal it reached with five... [read full story]