PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 21 (UPI) -- A North Korean official says it is not bound by its own moratorium on long-range missile tests as it apparently prepared Wednesday to carry out such a test.
Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Foreign Ministry official Ri Pyong Dok as saying the country is not "bound by any statement such as the Pyongyang declaration," which was signed in 2002 by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
In the package, North Korea agreed to a moratorium on its test launchings of long-range ballistic missiles, The New York Times reported.
Charles Kartman, the U.S. special envoy who negotiated it with the North Koreans, said North Korea has a valid point. He said the understanding was based on the assumption the two countries would conduct further talks, but such negotiations have not been held since 2000.
"The moratorium was to be in effect only so long as the two sides were engaged in missile talks," Kartman told the Times.
For the past week, satellite images have indicated the fuelling of a ballistic missile in a remote eastern region of North Korea, sparking international tension.
