The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday angrily rejected a resolution from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) not to refer the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s nuclear program to the UN Security Council.  

A spokesman of DPRK's Foreign Ministry roundly condemned the resolution and urged the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear questions to discuss the issue as a priority.

"If the IAEA does not settle the secret nuclear experiments of South Korea in an understandable manner, this issue will stand out as the most important issue at the six-party talks pending a top priority discussion," the spokesman said.

The DPRK spokesman accused the IAEA of "hushing up" the previously secret nuclear-related experiments of the ROK "under the manipulation and pressure" from the US.

"The IAEA has not been provided with indispensable conditions for probing the truth about the case during the inspection. The DPRK cannot believe the outcome of the inspection conducted by the IAEA," said the spokesman.

The spokesman reiterated the government's stand that a thorough probe should be made into the ROK's nuclear activities as "it had laid a stumbling block in the way of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula."

"Pyongyang is compelled to link the issue to the resumption of the six-party talks," the spokesman said, adding that "it is quite natural for the six-party talks to discuss this issue, for the fact that the DPRK is neither an IAEA member nor a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty."

"Double standards on nuclear issues of the north and south Korea can never be allowed under any circumstances and the DPRK will never work for denuclearization alone," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2004)