"The IAEA Board of Governors' resolution is a clear indication that the international community will not accept the DPRK nuclear weapons program," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said at a news briefing.

He said the IAEA decision to refer the issue to the UN Security Council "demonstrates that this is not a bilateral issue between the United States and the DPRK, but this is a dispute between the DPRK and the world."

"The United States seeks a multilateral solution to this program through diplomacy," he said.

The DPRK has rejected any third party role in its dispute with Washington over its alleged nuclear programs. Washington, however, insists that dialogue with Pyongyang be held in "a multilateral setting."

The decision of the IAEA to take the nuclear issue of the DPRK to the UN Security Council is premature, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Moscow's comment came after the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog agency, passed a resolution in Vienna declaring the DPRK in "non-compliance" with UN safeguards and decided to send the issue to the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, the IAEA stressed its desire for "a peaceful resolution of the DPRK nuclear issue and its support for diplomatic means to that end."

Russia abstained in the vote at the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, the statement said.

South Korea's representative to the IAEA's board issued a statement describing the agency's decision as "a direct and inevitable consequence" of the DPRK's withdrawal from the NPT announced on January 10.

The statement also pointed out that handing the dispute to the UN Security Council did not mean the end of diplomatic efforts.

Warning from DPRK

When announcing its withdrawal from the treaty last month, the DPRK stressed it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons. It also warned that any decision to impose sanctions on the country would be viewed as a "declaration of war."

A senior DPRK foreign ministry official warned yesterday and insisted Pyongyang had a right to self-defence, saying it has the ability to strike United States targets anywhere in the world if provoked.

"In case there is a self-defensive measure, the attack can be taken to all military personnel and all military commands of the United States in the world," senior foreign ministry official Ri Kwang-hyok said in an interview in the capital Pyongyang.

Asked if that meant Pyongyang had missiles capable of reaching Washington, the official replied: "I'm not an expert so I am not sure but we have long-range missiles and our people have the ability to strike enemies far away."

Japan's Reaction

Japan would launch a military strike against Pyongyang if it had firm evidence that the state was ready to attack with ballistic missiles, Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba said yesterday.

"It is too late if (a missile) flies towards Japan," Ishiba said in an interview.

"Our nation will use military force as a self-defence measure if (Pyongyang) starts to resort to arms against Japan," he said. He added that Japan could regard the process of injecting fuel into a missile as the start of a military attack if it determined that the missile was pointed at Japan.

According to its constitutions, Japan is not allowed to dispatch its forces abroad, but Japan has been seeking a "sound" excuse to go beyond its constitutional limitations, which arouses great concerns among Asian nations.

(China Daily February 14, 2003)