N Korea utters wish for talks, non-aggression pact with US

North Korea reiterated Friday that it wanted a dialogue without pre-conditions and a non-aggression pact with the United States, as China urged "common sense" from both sides.

North Korea's ambassador to China Choe Kim-Su said Pyongyang felt threatened by Washington's "Cold War style of thinking" and did not believe President George W. Bush's statement that he had no plans for an assault.

"North Korea cannot believe these words," he said. "All the time they say they have no intention to attack the DPRK (North Korea) by military devices, but who can believe these words."

He said the US decision to include Pyongyang among an "axis of evil" had prompted the North to restore a plutonium-based nuclear program.

"With this we were forced to take self-defence measures against this threat to national dignity and to our right to existence," he said at a press conference in Beijing.

"The reason for this lies in the fact that the US administration listed the DPRK as a target of its pre-emptive nuclear attacks... and broke down the US-DPRK agreement framework by suspending the supply of fuel oil."

Choe's comments came as official Chinese media urged "common sense" from both sides in the escalating dispute.

In an editorial, the English-language China Daily said Bush and his administration must tone down their rhetoric.

"The rigid US policy towards the DPRK (North Korea) will only exacerbate tensions between the two sides," it said.

"The United States should first give up its superpower mentality and sanction policy, and then treat the DPRK as an equal sovereign state."

AP adds: South Korean President-elect Roh Moon-hyun will offer a compromise that requires both North Korea and the United States to accept concessions to resolve the standoff over the communist state's nuclear program, an aide said Friday.

Roh hopes his proposal will resolve the dispute before he takes office Feb. 25, Lim Chae-jung, head of the presidential transition team, said on SBS-TV. Roh will meet President Bush soon after the inauguration.