N. Korea deploys more missiles

Seoul/Washington.

North Korea has deployed more missiles capable of reaching Japan, South Korea said yesterday, adding to concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions just as the North appears to be edging toward talks. The South's Defence Ministry said the North had also moved more artillery closer to the Demilitarised Zone that bisects the tense peninsula, putting even more firepower within reach of the South's capital, Seoul.

In Washington, officials told a Chinese envoy it was time for others to join China and the United States in nuclear talks with North Korea. Amid the diplomacy, North Korea increased its rhetoric, rejecting an invitation to join an event on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the truce that ended the Korean War and criticising reports about US defence plans.

"The greater the US pressure and threat become, the stronger retaliation (North Korea) will take against them," the official KCNA news agency quoted the newspaper Minju Joson as saying. The North has in the past grown more vociferous and staged incidents to grab attention and pave the way for a climbdown or compromise.

On Thursday, both Koreas exchanged machinegun fire in the Demilitarised Zone after the North fired on an observation post. Mohamed El Baradei, head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said in Vienna the biggest nuclear weapons threat was North Korea, although he was encouraged by China's attempts to re-open talks. Those attempts have taken Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo to Pyongyang and Washington last week. Dai told reporters the problems should be resolved through dialogue.

"The United States made clear our strong belief that the time has come for other parties to join the multilateral talks in order to ensure that all key issues are addressed," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

After a first, inconclusive round of talks in April in Beijing between North Korea, China and the US, Pyongyang reverted to its insistence on bilateral talks. But South Korean diplomats briefed by Dai were quoted in the Seoul media as saying they were told Pyongyang was ready to follow up on the April talks. The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun had similar information.

Arranging the next round of talks would be only the first step in what could be long and complicated negotiations on the substance, which includes aid to North Korea, North Korea's energy programmes and the future of the Korean peninsula.

The focus will stay on the peninsula this weekend. British Prime Minister Tony Blair holds talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Seoul today. Visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters Roh "believes that North Koreans in the end will act rationally".

Roh has taken a harder line on the North since taking office with a dovish reputation. His judgment may have been coloured by his defence chiefs' assessment of the North. In October, US officials said North Korea had said it had a secret nuclear arms programme.