North Korea to pull out of pact limiting nuclear weapons because of US 'threats'

North Korea said yesterday that it was pulling out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because of American threats. As two United Nations nuclear inspectors expelled by Pyongyang arrived in China, North Korea accused the United States of plotting war against it, and vowed to fight "to the last man".

Pak Ui Chun, North Korea's ambassador to Moscow, said that the US had not only made moves to cut off fuel oil supplies, it had been "threatening us with a preventative nuclear strike".

"In these circumstances, we also cannot fulfil the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the basic clause of which is the obligation of nuclear states not to use the nuclear weapon against states which do not possess it," Mr Pak was quoted as saying.

Pyongyang signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985. Pulling out of the pact will deepen the crisis over its decision to expel the weapons inspectors – a Lebanese man and a Chinese woman. The international community fears its hidden nuclear programme will be used to build plutonium-based weapons.

The two inspectors refused to discuss North Korea as they arrived in Beijing en route to the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters in Vienna. But Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the IAEA said: "We were the eyes of the world. Now we virtually have no possibility to monitor North Korea's nuclear activities, nor to provide any assurances to the international community that they are not producing a nuclear weapon."

Yesterday, the South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-Hyun, who was elected last month on a wave of anti-American sentiment, warned against "blindly following US policy". While he has urged the North not to leave the nuclear treaty, a growing rift is emerging with Washington.

Anger at America spilled on to the streets of Seoul last night, when about 22,000 South Koreans gathered near the US embassy to protest against the deaths of two teenage girls hit by a US military vehicle in road accident in June.

Mr Roh said: "Success or failure of a US policy toward North Korea isn't too big a deal to the American people, but it is a life-or-death matter for South Koreans. Therefore, any US move should fully consider South Korea's opinion."

South Korean officials fear the confrontation could trigger armed conflict on the Korean peninsula, where more than two million troops are massed on both sides of the Korean border, the last Cold War frontier.

The US will find itself up against more opposition to its policies from another key Asian ally, Pakistan, which is one of five new members to join the UN Security Council today.

Pakistan has been named by US officials as having been a major supplier of equipment for North Korea's clandestine nuclear programme. It is also one of America's closest allies in the "war on terror".

Washington plans to take North Korea's flouting of its international commitments to the Security Council, which may be asked to vote to impose economic sanctions against Pyongyang.

Pakistan, which was punished by US sanctions for its nuclear tests in 1998, is expected to fight such a proposal which would face a difficult passage through the Council in any case.

The US appears, in the meantime, to have the backing of Russia – North Korea's long-time ally, and a permanent member of the Security Council – which has urged Pyongyang not to abandon the treaty. Moscow's warning appeared to be a blow to North Korea's efforts to cast the nuclear issue as a dispute strictly with the United States.