By Jong-Heon Lee
UPI Correspondent
From the International Desk
Published 5/25/2003 1:11 PM
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SEOUL, South Korea, May 26 (UPI) -- North Korea warned again on Sunday that South Korea cannot avoid "an unimaginable disaster" if the North faced tougher measures by the United States and its allies over the nuclear crisis.

The statement came two days after North Korea won a South Korean promise of 400,000 tons of rice aid in return for Pyongyang's expression of regret over its saber-rattling rhetoric.

During the inter-Korean talks that ended Friday, North Koreans threatened South Korea with an "unspeakable disaster" if it sided with the United States in the nuclear standoff, which led the reconciliation talks to the brink of collapse.

But after four days of haggling, North Korean delegates expressed regret, saying the threatening remarks meant their hope for avoiding such a disaster on the Korean peninsula.

In return, South Korean negotiators agreed to provide 400,000 metric tons of rice aid to ease the North's food shortages, despite public opinion in the South that is showing a growing hostility toward the North.

But in a statement released Sunday night, the North's state-run Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said, "If the South turns to confrontation, talking about 'nuclear issue' and 'further steps' it would sustain an unimaginable disaster."

The statement accused South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun of backing U.S. President Bush's hard-line stance against North Korea, which it said would further raise nuclear tensions on the peninsula.

Roh and Bush on May 14 said they will "not tolerate" nuclear weapons in North Korea and threatened the use of "further steps" to deal with Pyongyang's nuclear aims.

At last Friday's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Bush again warned North Korea it would face "tougher measures" if it escalates a crisis over its nuclear weapons program.

In response, North Korea criticized the United States for worsening nuclear tensions in the world and attempting to bring "a storm of nuclear war" to the Korean peninsula.

"The conception of absolute de-nuclearization on this planet is quite meaningless unless the United States, the nuclear weapon state, proves its anti-nuclear policy by dismantling its nuclear weapons and abandoning its nuclear threat," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea, in a Foreign Ministry statement, also demanded that Washington first take a reconciliatory step to settle the nuclear crisis, saying it could be followed by acceptance of long-demanded multilateral talks, including South Korea, Japan and China, to handle the North's nuclear issue.

South Korean government officials consider the North's call as reflecting its policy change from its long-standing insistence on direct talks with Washington to resolve the nuclear standoff.