Iraq threat overwhelms US plans for the Pyongyang nuclear genie

NORTH KOREAN officials seem convinced that whatever is in store for Iraq will also be their country's fate. They have embarked on a rare media charm offensive to convince the world that there is nothing evil about the reclusive regime.

The message is simple - North Korea is the victim, not the aggressor. Yes, it has weapons - nuclear ones among them - but only for self-defence.

Pyongyang's Consul-General to Hong Kong, Ri To-sop, outlined the North Korean predicament last week as succinctly as his command of English would allow.

'My country is small and the population is not large,' he said. 'We do not need to make tremendous efforts to increase our defence capabilities. However, the US has threatened us with armed forces quite often. We have been confronting the US for a long time. The US keeps a hostile attitude. Their hostility will create more.'

Since the 1953 end of the three-year Korean War - sparked by what North Korea refers to as its 'liberation' - the United States has helped South Korea build what has become the world's most fortified border. The heavily mined and guarded frontier is defended by 100,000 South Korean soldiers and 37,000 American troops.

North Korea has an estimated one million soldiers, a rudimentary missile programme, a weak navy, a weaker air force - and its nuclear project. The North confirmed the existence of the programme last month, a day after it was revealed by the US following a visit to Pyongyang by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia James Kelly.