N. Korea Calls U.S. Exercises 'War Action'

North Korea said Monday that prospects for talks on its nuclear weapons program are getting dimmer every day and it condemned U.S.-led naval exercises in Japanese waters as an ``ultimate war action.'' The comments, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, came only hours after Secretary of State Colin Powell blamed the communist country for the delay in holding new six-nation talks on its nuclear program. KCNA said U.S. military maneuvers around the Korean peninsula show that Washington ``does not stand for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue.'' Currently on a trip to Asia, Powell reiterated that Washington seeks a diplomatic end to the dispute with Pyongyang. "The DPRK is compelled to serve a serious warning to the U.S., regarding the exercise as a move to implement the U.S. pre-emptive interception strategy aimed to isolate and stifle the DPRK internationally and an ultimate war action,'' KCNA said. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The news agency was referring to eight-nation naval exercises in Japanese waters scheduled to begin this week. Besides the United States and Japan, seven other countries will take part in the naval exercise, with 14 more serving as observers. [more ]