Accusing the United States of seeking to topple its political system and threatening it with a nuclear stick, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Thursday it is suspending its participation in the six-party talks on the nuclear issue for an "indefinite period".

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said "We have wanted the six-party talks but we are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for an indefinite period."

The DPRK said it would not resume its participation in the six-party talks until it has recognized that there is justification for it to attend the talks and there are ample conditions and atmosphere to expect positive results from the talks.

"The present deadlock of the six-party talks is attributable to the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK," the statement said.

There is no justification for the DPRK to participate in the six-party talks again given that the Bush administration termed the DPRK, a dialogue partner, an "outpost of tyranny", it said.

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice branded last month the DPRK, along with some other countries, as an "outpost tyranny" that needed to be liberated.

"The U.S. disclosed its attempt to topple the political system in the DPRK at any cost, threatening it with a nuclear stick. This compels us to take a measure to bolster its unclear weapons arsenal in order to protect the ideology, system, freedom and democracy chosen by its people," said the statement.

"We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the NPT and have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK," it said.

"The DPRK's principled stand to solve the issue through dialogue and negotiations and its ultimate goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula remain unchanged," the statement added.

Three rounds of six-party talks, participated by representatives from the DPRK, the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan, have taken place in Beijing since August 2003.

Although some practical progress has been made, especially during the third round talks held last June, which was praised by all the parties as "constructive", no breakthrough emerged on substantial issues.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2005)