The axis of anger

North Korea's surprise announcement last week that it possessed nuclear weapons and would indefinitely boycott the six-party talks immensely complicates the Korean nuclear problem and puts additional pressure on China as host of the multilateral talks to get them started again.

It is vital at this point for the five other parties to the talks - the US, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - to remain united. It is important not to overreact. For one thing, North Korea has not said that it will no longer take part in the talks. What it said was that it would 'indefinitely' suspend its participation until such time as Pyongyang feels it has reason 'to expect positive results from the talks'.

North Korea had said that its attitude would depend on the Korea policy adopted by the second Bush administration. Interestingly, on January 14, less than a week before George W. Bush's inauguration, North Korea announced that it had decided to 'resume the six-way talks' and 'respect and treat the United States as a friend' unless Washington 'slanders' the North Korean system and 'interferes in its internal affairs'.

From last Thursday's announcement, it would appear that North Korea feels that it has been slandered by Mr Bush and his new secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. While Mr Bush did not mention North Korea in his inaugural address, the speech did contain tough language about 'ending tyranny' in the world.

And at her confirmation hearings, Dr Rice called North Korea an 'outpost of tyranny'. Putting the two statements together, North Korea may well have concluded that Washington's goal was, indeed, regime change rather than peaceful coexistence.

China's annoyance is evident, with the official media allowing numerous critical comments of North Korea to appear in public. But Beijing is in a dilemma. While China and North Korea were allies during the Korean war, its interests now lie in better relations with the US and the developed world. It definitely does not want war on the Korean Peninsula.

The need for action may well be urgent. America possesses scientific evidence that suggests North Korea is already actively engaged in the proliferation of nuclear materials. China appears to be taking this seriously, with President Hu Jintao himself receiving the American specialist sent to present evidence to leaders in China, South Korea and Japan.