North Korea demands U.S. drop ‘tyranny’ label

NEW YORK – North Korea told the United States that it must withdraw its description of the communist nation as an “outpost of tyranny” and treat Pyongyang as a friend if it wants nuclear talks to resume, a senior North Korean official said Friday.

North Korea’s director general of North American affairs, Li Gun, told reporters after a two-day conference on northeast Asian security that the next step is up to the Americans.

Speaking in English, Li said, “We told them (the U.S.) to just withdraw the words ‘outpost of tyranny.’ We demand it.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called North Korea one of the world’s “outposts of tyranny” during her confirmation hearings in January. She defended the characterization last month, telling Pyongyang if it wants economic help it must give up its nuclear weapons and return to the six-party talks.

The State Department confirmed that Joseph De Trani, the top U.S. official to the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and James Foster, who is in charge of the department’s office of Korean affairs, resumed contact with the North Koreans at the conference.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there were no negotiations between the two sides at the closed meeting.

“We are still waiting to hear from North Korea a date when they will return to the six-party talks and engage in those talks in a constructive manner,” he said.

De Trani told reporters it was a good meeting but would not elaborate.

Speaking in Korean, Li said the two sides exchanged positions and that he told the Americans “the United States has to treat us friendly, not as enemy, if they want us to take part in the six-party talks.”