North Korea denies admission of secret nuclear weapons

North Korea denied yesterday that it admitted to US officials that it had a secret nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongyang issued its denial as the US stepped up its efforts to defuse tension on the Korean peninsula by sending an envoy to Seoul for further talks. James Kelly, the assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs, is expected to meet Roh Moo Hyun, South Korea's president-elect, who says diplomacy is the only solution. He also plans to talk to the Foreign Minister and other advisers.

While Mr Kelly was in Pyongyang for talks in October, the US announced that the North had admitted having a nuclear programme. Such a programme violates a 1994 accord with the US, in which energy supplies were pledged in return for North Korea freezing operations at its nuclear plants. Washington halted oil shipments in December.

North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper was quoted yesterday as saying: "The claim that we admitted developing nuclear weapons is an invention fabricated by the US with sinister intentions." It added: "If the US challenges us, we'll turn the citadel of imperialists into a sea of fire." The US believes North Korea has one or two nuclear weapons and could make more within six months.

In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, met Han Song Ryol, deputy ambassador to the UN. He said face-to-face talks with the North could start soon. "They don't negotiate like we do," he said. "They believe to get something they have to step up the rhetoric, be more belligerent."