North Korea withdrew from an international nuclear accord Friday, a move likely to focus more attention on suspicions that it is developing atomic weapons.
The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korea was pulling out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to defend its interests. Pyongyang, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, accused inspectors of joining the United States in "anti-North Korean maneuvers."North Korea had submitted to six inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the accord, but balked when the experts asked to see two facilities suspected of being nuclear waste dumps.
The agency, a U.N. watchdog based in Vienna, Austria, said North Korea was the first country to pull out of the pact.
North Korea's abandonment of the nuclear treaty deepened the international isolation of one of the last hard-line Communist nations. Pyongyang's intransigence over nuclear inspections also has contributed to a stalemate in reconciliation talks with South Korea.
In Seoul, the government called an emergency Cabinet meeting.
"The government is seriously worried that the North Korean withdrawal . . . will not only threaten stability on the Korean peninsula but also endanger world peace and stability," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Japan, like the United States and South Korea, has been suspicious of North Korea's nuclear program.
"Japan strongly urges North Korea to retract its decision of withdrawal and intends to work closely with the republic of Korea, the United States and other NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) countries to that end," said the Japanese foreign minister, Michio Watanabe.