Cheney had called Kim an "irresponsible" leader who did not care for his people and ran a police state, drawing a strong rebuke Thursday from Pyongyang, which called the US leader a "blood-thirsty beast."

"We are going to call it the way it is," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters as he backed Cheney's verbal assault made in an interview with CNN's "Larry King Live" program on Monday.

The White House move however does not signal that the United States has given up hopes on the six-party talks, said North Asia analyst Balbina Hwang of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"Cheney's comments were not something new and does not indicate any shift in policy," she said. "And I do not think strong statements labeling North Korea for what it is, is what is preventing North Korea from coming back to the table."

"They do not want to return to the talks because they want to continue with their nuclear weapons program," Hwang said.

Cheney had made clear Pyongyang should not expect any softening of the US tone even as efforts continue to prod North Korea back to negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear weapons drive.

North Korea has boycotted the talks -- also involving China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- since the last round a year ago due to what it called hostile US policy.

Pyongyang relaunched its nuclear arms program in violation of a 1994 accord. Washington insists Pyongyang has several atomic bombs in its arsenal.

"I am concerned about it," Cheney had said of the stalled negotiations, "partly because ... Kim Jong Il, who's the leader of North Korea, is -- I would describe as one of the world's more irresponsible leaders."

The vice president accused Kim of running a police state and one of the most heavily militarized societies in the world while the bulk of the North Korean population lived in abject poverty.

"He doesn't take care of his people at all," Cheney continued. "And he obviously wants to throw his weight around and become a nuclear power."

Following the strong words, North Korea launched an anti-Cheney tirade.

"Cheney is hated as the most cruel monster and blood-thirsty beast, as he has drenched various parts of the world in blood," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday.

"What Cheney uttered at a time when the issue of the six-party talks is high on the agenda is little short of telling the DPRK (North Korea) not to come out for the talks," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

McClellan said this was "more of the same kind of bluster we hear from North Korea from time to time."

"All of the parties are saying to North Korea that it needs to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. We all share the goal of a nuclear-free (Korean) peninsula. North Korea is the one that must make a strategic decision" if it wants to have better relations with the international community, said McClellan.

"They may make provocative statements, but they will only further isolate themselves from the international community. We've made very clear that we are committed to the six-party talks," he said.

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