N. Korea Sneers at Powell Diplomatic Effort in Asia

North Korea dismissed Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s Asian trip as a pre-U.S. election stunt Saturday and warned that it would double its nuclear deterrent force if Washington persisted in challenging the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Powell was en route to Japan, where he intended to consult with Japan, China and South Korea on how to assure North Korea that Washington was not interested in attacking it and how to revive stalled six-party talks concerning Pyongyang’s nuclear programs.

North Korea, which insists that it needs a nuclear deterrent to a U.S. invasion, said Saturday that talks could resume only if Washington dropped its hostile policy toward it and promised a “reward for freeze” on its nuclear activities.

“If the U.S. persistently pursues its confrontational hostile policy toward the [North] ... from the viewpoint of escapism, it will only compel the [North] to double its deterrent force,” Pyongyang’s official newspaper, Rodong Shinmun, said.

Powell rejected Pyongyang’s demand to be rewarded for a freeze. The United States has said it will provide economic benefits to North Korea once Pyongyang has demonstrated a credible commitment to permanent and verifiable disarmament.

The six-party negotiations include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan. Three rounds of talks, held in Beijing, have yielded little progress.

The negotiations started after U.S. officials said North Korea acknowledged running a secret nuclear program in violation of international agreements.

North Korea says it has several plutonium-based nuclear weapons and denies U.S. allegations that it has a secret uranium-based nuclear weapons program.

On Saturday, a spokesman with the North’s Foreign Ministry described Powell’s trip as a “sleight of hand in the run-up to the presidential elections.”