US pushes non-proliferation, N.Korea defends nukes

MANILA, May 24 (Reuters) - Washington has urged Asian countries to call for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula while North Korean officials defended Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons, at meetings this week in Manila.

The United States was pushing the 26-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to take a tough stance on non-proliferation when Asia's largest security bloc meets in August in the Philippine capital, Southeast Asian diplomats said today.

''They are now negotiating the text of a separate statement that would be issued on Aug. 2 during the ARF ministerial meeting in Manila,'' said Medardo Abad, an official at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat.

But in preparatory meetings for the summit, North Korean officials defended their attempts to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons and described the United States, South Korea and Japan as ''an alliance of war''.

''The DPRK had no other option but to possess nukes,'' said a Southeast Asian defence official, paraphrasing Pyongyang's defence paper distributed to ARF members, the first time North Korea gave a security outlook since joining the forum in 2000.

The defence official said diplomats were not surprised by North Korea's defence of its nuclear policy and stinging rebuke of the United States and its allies.

Hopes for a breakthrough on North Korea's nuclear programme have waned after Pyongyang missed an April deadline to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear complex, insisting it first receive 25 million dollars from once-frozen accounts.

Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator in talks over North Korea, was due to fly into Manila today night to meet with ARF diplomats but he has said he has no plans to meet any North Korean officials.

He told a news conference in Hanoi today that Pyongyang should ''get on with its tasks'' of shutting down the reactor.

The ARF is an Asia-Pacific security grouping that brings together the world's major powers, including the United States, China, Russia and the European Union.

The bloc is trying to overcome criticisms it is just a talking shop with moves to establish a quick reaction group to respond to conflicts and political crises in the region.

REUTERS AK VC1715