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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friday condemned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for referring the rift over its nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, branding the IAEA's decision as interference in its internal affairs.
"The IAEA interfered the nuclear issue of the DPRK", the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the country's official agency, said in a lengthy commentary.
The IAEA's board of directors voted on Wednesday to refer the DPRK nuclear issue to the Security Council, setting in motion a process that could lead to sanctions against the country.
The IAEA has no right to discuss the DPRK's nuclear issue as Pyongyang withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on Jan. 10 and declared its effectuation the following day, the commentary said, adding that there isn't any legal relationship between the IAEA and Pyongyang.
The KCNA termed the IAEA as "a cat's paw" and "a shaggy dog" of the United States, saying the world nuclear watchdog has totally lost its impartiality on the nuclear issue.
"It is well advised to stop serving the United States any longer and interfering in the nuclear issue of the DPRK", it said.
The commentary urged the IAEA to refer the United States to the UN for "violating the basic spirit of the NPT and all the agreements between the DPRK and United States, and sparking the present nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula" in order to restore the confidence as an international organization.
The DPRK has been accusing the United States of sparking the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula by suspending its oil supply to the DPRK agreed on in the 1994 accord.
After the halt of US oil supply, the DPRK expelled IAEA inspectors and removed seals and monitoring cameras from the nuclear facilities last Dec., and eventually pulled out of the NPT.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2003)
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