A spokesman for North korea's Foreign Ministry criticizes the biased attitude adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in handling the nuclear issues of North and South Korea and says this will adversely affect efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

The spokesman says IAEA officials have been purposely playing down South Korea's secret nuclear experiments ever since they become known and have even asserted they were "purely the deeds of individual researchers". The results of the investigation into the incidents have not yet come out.

He also accuses the US of causing and delaying the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. He adds that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei blames North Korea for stopping the six-party talks and such a biased attitude contravenes the mission and justice of the UN Agency.

(CRI October 15, 2004)