SEOUL, South Korea
North Korea called Vice President Dick Cheney a "bloodthirsty beast" and said Thursday his recent remarks labeling ruler Kim Jong Il irresponsible are another reason for it to stay away from six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
"What Cheney uttered at a time when the issue of the six-party talks is high on the agenda is little short of telling (North Korea) not to come out for the talks," an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Nearly a year since the last session of the six-nation talks, North Korea has refused to return to the table, citing a "hostile" U.S. policy. More recently, it has also called for an apology for being labeled one of the world's "outposts of tyranny" by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice.
In a Sunday interview on CNN, Cheney called the North Korean leader "one of the world's most irresponsible leaders" who runs a police state and leaves his people in poverty and malnutrition. White House press secretary Scott McClellan described the communist country's comments as "more of the same kind of bluster we hear from North Korea from time to time. When they make provocative statements, they only further isolate themselves."
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