UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The U.N. envoy to the Korean Peninsula said he was concerned about North Korea's nuclear weapons, but re-affirmed his belief in the six party talks.
"The six party negotiations have not been canceled," Maurice Strong told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York. "The DPRK has simply said is it not prepared to participate in them under the conditions that they have described."
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Thursday withdrew from talks with Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States and declared explicitly for the first time they possessed nuclear weapons.
Strong called it "a very real bump in the road" but stressed the United Nations was pushing for resumption of talks because otherwise the consequences would be "horrendous."
Continuing its policy, the United States rejected a demand for bilateral talks made by a senior North Korean diplomat Friday.
