North Korea has rejected an offer by U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to mediate an impasse over the North's suspected development of nuclear weapons, a U.N. official said Saturday.
Boutros-Ghali began three days of talks with North Korean leaders. North Korea's official news agency said he held "cordial and friendly" talks on Saturday with President Kim Il Sung, but gave no details.Earlier, Boutros-Ghali offered to help defuse the nuclear crisis, but Foreign Minister Kim Young Nam said no U.N. mediation was needed because North Korea and the United States already are engaged in talks, U.N. spokesman Joe Sills said in a statement.
North Korean and American officials reportedly made progress last week on allowing international inspections of the North's nuclear facilities.
North Korea has refused to discuss inspections with anyone other than the United States, apparently because it wants better relations with Washington as well as help for its faltering economy.The U.N. chief's trip was the latest move in an international effort to bring North Korea out of isolation and improve relations in the region.
On Friday, North Korean leaders told Boutros-Ghali they wanted a "negotiated, peaceful" resolution of the nuclear issue, North Korea's official news agency said.
"If the United States put unjustifiable pressure on (North Korea) we would have no other choice but to take decisive measures for defending the nation's sovereignty," the agency quoted the foreign minister as saying at a reception for Boutros-Ghali.