It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

DPRK TO US: CIVD? NO! (NYT: free subscription required)

North Korea on Saturday explicitly rejected the formula the United States has put forward as its bottom-line position in talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs, raising doubts about whether the fitful negotiations are making even limited progress.

The statement carried by Radio Pyongyang and monitored by news agencies in South Korea came just after a visit to North Korea by China's foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, and shortly before a visit to the region by Vice President Dick Cheney that is planned for April. It used typically unrestrained language in accusing the United States of secretly planning a war.

The DPRK went on to reject each individual aspect of CVID:

"Complete nuclear dismantling is a plot to overthrow the North's socialist system after stripping it of its nuclear deterrent," it said.

"Verifiable nuclear dismantling, reflects a U.S. intention to spy on our military capabilities before starting a war," it also said.

" `Irreversible nuclear dismantling' is nothing other than a noose to stifle us after eradicating our peaceful nuclear-energy industry," it added.

So now what? Probably nothing, at least until the U.S. Presidential election happens.