Pyongyang is dropping out of ‘six-party’ disarmament talks
North Korea has vowed to restart its atomic weapons program and quit disarmament talks after the United Nations condemned a recent rocket launch that North Korea insisted was designed to put a satellite into orbit, but which most observers believe was aimed at testing a long-range missile. Pyongyang described the UN Security Council’s reaction as an “unbearable insult” to its people and said it was dropping out of ‘six-party’ disarmament talks that had included China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Russia. “There is no need for the six-party talks any more,” said a statement from Pyongyang’s foreign ministry. “We will never again take part in such talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks.”