Anchor: The U.S. and North Korea confirmed their differences amid the growing military tension on the Korean Peninsula. Speaking at the annual UN disarmament conference, a Washington envoy highlighted the need to protect the U.S. homeland from North Korean nuclear and missile threats. North Korean diplomats said that the U.S. is the root cause of their regime's WMD program.
Kim Bum-soo has more.  
 
Report: 

[Sound bite: Robert Wood - US Permanent Rep to Conference on Disarmament]
"My president's top priority remains protecting the homeland, U.S. territories and our allies against North Korean aggression.

At the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood voiced that North Korea's ballistic-missile and nuclear-weapons programs are now "grave threats to the entire world."
 
[Sound bite: Robert Wood - US Permanent Rep. to Conference on Disarmament]
"We remain prepared to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea."

North Korea’s envoy to the UN disarmament talks, Ju Yong-chol, told the conference that the U.S. provided the need for what he called "self defense" measures.  

[Sound bite: Ju Yong-chol -  Councilor, N. Korean mission to Geneva]
"There are several nuclear weapon states in the world, but the U.S. is the only country that poses constant nuclear threat upon the DPRK. The measures taken by the DPRK to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and develop inter-continental rockets is justifiable and a legitimate option for self-defense in the face of such apparent and real threats."
 
The U.S. envoy said that the door for dialogue is still open but the North Korean diplomat said that its nuclear weapons program will not be put on the negotiating table. 
 
The South Korean Deputy Permanent Representative, Kim In-chul, told his North Korean counterpart that no more options are left for the regime but to come back to dialogue.
 
[Sound bite: Kim In-chul – Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative for South Korea (Spanish)]
"I would like to repeat the appeal to the DPRK to listen to the fact that there is no alternative to stopping the different provocations and to return to the dialogue table."
 
Tensions have been rising over the North’s development of missiles and nuclear weapons since it launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month. 

The South Korean diplomat said that North Korea's threats to international peace and security will only face increasingly tougher responses from the international community.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News. 
 

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