North Korea has halted all co-operation with United Nations nuclear monitors and asked them to leave the country as soon as possible, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
Marc Vidricaire, an IAEA spokesman, said on Tuesday that Pyongyang had vowed to reactivate all its nuclear facilities.
"The DPRK also informed the IAEA that it has decided to reactivate all facilities and go ahead with the reprocessing of spent fuel," he said.The move followed a report on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) saying that Pyongyang "sternly rejects" a UN statement condemning a rocket launch early this month.
North Korea said it would no longer attend what it called the "useless" disarmament talks and said it would restart its plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium.
"There is no need for the six-party [nuclear disarmament] talks any more," it said. "We will never again take part in such talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks."
'Provocative threats'
In response to the statement, the United States called for Pyongyang to "cease its provocative threats".
Robert Gibbs, a US presidential spokesman, said the threat was a "serious step in the wrong direction" and that North Korea should respect the will of the international community by honouring its international commitments
The UN Security Council statement agreed on Monday condemned the country's April 5 rocket launch, saying it violated a resolution banning Pyongyang from conducting missile-related activities.The North insists the launch placed a satellite into orbit, and has defended what it says is its sovereign right to a space programme.But the US military says no satellite has been detected and the rocket's upper stage and its payload crashed into the Pacific. It says the launch was a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test
John Swenson-Wright, a Korea expert at Seoul National University in South Korea, told Al Jazeera that North Korea's announcement it was quitting the nuclear talks and would "never
again" return to them was an uncompromising statement.
"By taking this uncompromising stand, North Korea is pursuing a very risky line", he said, noting that ruling out a return to the talks could alienate China - North Korea's closest ally - which has previously urged a softer line with the North.
In its initial response to the North's announcement, China's foreign ministry called for calm from all sides.
"We hope all sides will pay attention to the broader picture, exercise calm and restraint and protect progress in the six-party talks," spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
Aid for disarmament
The North began disabling its Soviet-era Yongbyon nuclear plant, which produced weapons-grade plutonium, more than a year ago as part of a February 2007 aid-for-disarmament deal reached with the US, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
It had previously threatened to quit the talks, which began in 2003, should the Security Council criticise its April 5 rocket launch.
The talks, hosted by China, bring together envoys from the US, China, Russia, Japan as well as North and South Korea.
North Korea said early on Tuesday that "even though the six-party talks were blown up by hostile forces and the denuclearisation process torn apart" it will ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula with its military-first policy.
It said it would actively consider building its own light-water nuclear reactors to supply electrical power and criticised what it called double standards by the UN.
"According to the US logic, Japan may launch a satellite because Japan is its ally but we must not do the same because we have a different system and we are not subservient to the US," the ministry's statement said.
"The UN Security Council simply yielded to the US robber-like logic."
Responding to North Korea's protest move, neighbouring Japan has called on North Korea to reconsider its actions.
Russia also said it "regrets North Korea's decision" and called on Pyongyang not to quit the talks.
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