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North Korea accused the United States Thursday of stepping up war preparations while making phoney overtures for a peaceful end to the nuclear crisis. Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling communist party newspaper, said US military authorities were "massively shipping their weapons of latest types tested in actual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan" to South Korea. "This is a clear proof that the US intention to ignite the second war of aggression on this land has reached a grave practical stage," Rodong said in a commentary. In an earlier dispatch, Rodong listed armaments it said had been deployed to South Korea, including Stryker armored cars and Shadow 200 unmanned spy aircraft. In addition "GBU-28 (bunker-buster) bombs, Smart bombs and other hi-tech weapons" could be on their way, Rodong said. "This dangerous arms build-up stepped up by the US behind the curtain of dialogue gives lie to its oft-repeated idle chatter about dialogue," it said. US military authorities refused to confirm the Rodong report. The North's criticism came as the United States was actively engaged in discussions this week with South Korea and China to resume multilateral talks to end the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. The first round of six-nation talks -- which brought together the United States, two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia -- ended inconclusively in Beijing in August. Disagreements over what can be achieved and the wording of a final communique have stalled the second round, according to officials in Seoul and Washington. North Korea has offered to freeze nuclear reactors producing weapons grade plutonium in return for compensation from Washington. The latest overture followed a first visit last week by US delegates to the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, 90 kilometers (50 miles) north of Pyongyang, since international monitors were expelled more than a year ago. North Korea said it had shown the "nuclear deterrent" to the US delegates. Last week, Pyongyang also offered to refrain from producing and testing nuclear weapons in what it said was a "bold concession" to the United States in return for outside aid. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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