The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Bush's description of the Pyongyang government as "brutal" before the United Nations General Assembly last month had damaged North Korea's dignity and international standing.

"The DPRK (North Korea) cannot overlook the brazen-faced remarks made by the US chief executive against his dialogue partner on the international arena," the KCNA dispatch said.

"The renewed accusation made by him against the DPRK was nothing but a foolish ploy to tarnish the DPRK's dignity and authority rising on the international arena as the days go by, which the servicepersons and people of the DPRK will never tolerate," it added.

Bush, who famously included North Korea in his 2002 "axis of evil" speech, savaged the country in front of world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly on September 25.

"In Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration," he said.

KCNA called for consistency from the United States, which has softened its stance on North Korea as long-running six-party disarmament talks finally bear fruit. Pyongyang has pledged to declare and disable its nuclear programmes by year-end.

"The US would be well advised to pay attention to and ponder over the factors of adversely affecting the progress at the talks and the settlement of the nuclear issue and be consistent in its policy toward the DPRK," it said.

US installs missile-tracking system in Japan
US forces deployed a mobile missile-tracking station in Japan for the first time Friday, officials said, as part of efforts to defend against a potential attack from North Korea.

The Joint Tactical Ground Station was being set up at the Misawa base in Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan's most populous island of Honshu.

It is the first time the US military has deployed the mobile unit in Japan, although one is already in South Korea, said Yutaka Shirasawa, an official at Japan's defence ministry.

The system consists of a vehicle equipped with three satellite antennas and information-processing equipment, which is meant to send news of any incoming missile to the US military and Japanese defence ministry.

It will be operated by 18 US servicepeople from an army base in the western US state of Colorado, Shirasawa said, adding the local government was informed of the deployment Thursday.

Tokyo and Washington launched work on a missile defence shield for Japan after North Korea shocked the world in 1998 by firing a long-range missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific allies have continued to work on developing the shield despite ongoing negotiations with North Korea, which has agreed to end its nuclear drive in return for aid and diplomatic benefits.

But local authorities and media had criticised the deployment, saying they were not sufficiently informed.

"The US military might not be able to disclose military secrets. However, we should not just let it be," the local To-o Nippo newspaper said in an editorial before the deployment.

"The mayor must press the US military and the (Japanese) government to give us detailed explanation."

In March, Japan for the first time installed Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptors in the Tokyo area.

The United States last year installed Japan's first anti-missile system on the southern island of Okinawa, the hub of the 40,000 US troops in Japan.

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