The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will exclude Japan from taking part in any future talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in Pyongyang Tuesday.

Japan is nothing but an obstacle to the peaceful settlement of the nuclear standoff, the spokesman said.

He said Japan has a "black-hearted intention" of using the nuclear issue for its attempts to violate the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang declaration and to revive militarism.

At a moment when the Unites States is pursuing an extremely hostile policy toward the DPRK, Japan is collaborating with the United States to make the nuclear issue more complex, and doing its best to blockade and suffocate the economic development of the DPRK, the spokesman said.

He also slammed Japan for its support to the US preemptive policy, its limit on the normal exchanges between the DPRK and Japan, and its ignorance of the persecution suffered by Koreans living in Japan.

Japan has lost its qualification to be a trustworthy dialogue partner, the spokesman said, stressing that the DPRK will no longer allow Japan to participate in any future talks.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2003)