North Korea on Wednesday accused the UN atomic agency of aggravating a dispute over its nuclear programme by siding with the United States.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “aggravated the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula pursuant to the US hostile policy towards the DPRK (North Korea),” the North’s foreign ministry said.
“This deprived the IAEA of the qualifications to intervene in (North Korea’s) nuclear activities,” it said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
IAEA last week called the North’s nuclear programme a “serious concern”, pointing to significant progress in recent months in building a new light-water reactor.
The North says the reactor is necessary to meet its energy needs.
The ministry also questioned IAEA’s role in resolving a dispute over the North’s nuclear programme.