North Korea: "Bush is a tyrant that puts Hitler into the shade."

SEOUL — North Korea today described President Bush as a "tyrannical political imbecile" — and said Pyongyang could see no justification for talks with his administration.

Six-party, working-level talks on the country's nuclear-weapons ambitions had been planned for this month, but have yet to materialize.

The September date for more senior talks is also in question, although diplomats note Pyongyang often raises its rhetorical voice before attending talks or compromising.

In a statement published by the official news agency, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Bush had hurled "malignant slanders and calumnies" against Pyongyang's leadership under Kim Jong-Il.

"This clearly proves that [North Korea] was quite right when it commented that he is a political imbecile bereft of even elementary morality as a human being and a bad guy, much less being a politician," the spokesman said.

"Bush is a tyrant that puts Hitler into the shade."

Bush angered the North Koreans by saying in a campaign speech last Wednesday that he had made the decision to bring in other countries to help persuade Pyongyang not to produce nuclear weapons.

The North Korean spokesman said it had been impossible to hold working-level talks between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States because of hostile U.S. policy.

He said the latest comments had made matters worse.

Some North Korea analysts say the bluster masks Pyongyang's true aim: to bide its time until it is clear whether Bush or John Kerry is elected in November.
Reuters

Não se riam, mas isto dito pelo regíme estalinista de Pyongyang até tem a sua piáda. É como este outdoor que apareceu esta semana numa esquina de Miami. [RF]