The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Saturday condemned the United States for labeling Pyongyang as a "nuclear criminal." It also warned Japan not to unsettle the forthcoming six-party talks by raising the "human rights issue."

In a recent statement, the US House of Representatives charged that "the DPRK threatens the stability in Northeast Asia as a 'nuclear criminal'," said the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a commentary.

"It is contrary to an atmosphere of dialogue for the US to point an accusing finger at its dialogue partner when the six-party talks are expected to be resumed soon," the KCNA said.

If Washington really wants to settle the nuclear issue through talks, it must show a trustworthy, sincere attitude to make conditions mature for the resumption of the six-party talks, according to the commentary.

Meanwhile, the KCNA countered the remarks by Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura that the six-party talks should take up the "human rights situation" in the DPRK.

With a bad human rights record of its own, Japan has no qualification to talk about human rights in the DPRK, said the KCNA in another commentary.

The human rights issue has nothing to do with the agenda of thesix-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the commentary added.

"They just want to twist the nature of the talks and to meet its selfish purpose," said the commentary.

It also chided Japan for making use of "the 'abduction issue' which had already been settled." The commentary warned Tokyo not to impair its international image and escalate the hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

The six-party talks -- involving China, Japan, the two sides onthe Korean peninsula, Russia and the United States -- are set to resume next week in the Chinese capital Beijing for the first time in 13 months.

Source: Xinhua