Korean Crisis Escalates

North Korea gave the world a slap in the face Friday, saying it was dropping out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a move that most observers called a dangerous new escalation, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen.

North Korea' ambassador to the United Nations blamed the U.S.

"It is none other than the United States which wrecks the peace and security on the Korean peninsula," said Pak Gil Yon.

And he stoked world fears with a blunt threat: "We consider any kind of economic sanctions taken by the U.N. Security Council as a declaration of war."

The United States condemned North Korea's decision to quit a treaty considered the cornerstone of global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.

"North Korea has thumbed its nose at the international community," said Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking alongside Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ultimately, Powell said, the U.N. Security Council must take up North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and shirking of international obligations. "It is a very serious situation," Powell said. "We are not going to be intimidated. We are not going to be put in a panic situation. We are going to work this deliberately."

At the same time, Powell renewed the Bush administration's overture to hold direct talks with North Korea and said, "We hope the North Korean leadership will understand the folly of its actions."

ElBaradei also took a hard line, accusing North Korea of "a policy of defiance." He said unless North Korea reversed its actions within a few weeks the Security Council should intervene.

Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Sweden also denounced the North Korean decision. Japan called on its regional neighbor to reverse course.

President Bush talked by telephone with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Mr. Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said the president told Jiang, "This binds us in common purpose."

Mr. Bush also told the Chinese leader the United States seeks a peaceful solution to the standoff, while Jiang "reiterated China's commitment to a non-nuclear Korean peninsula," Fleischer said.

But in Pyongyang, the North's propaganda machine was in full roar, saying that armed conflict in Korea would "lead to the third world war." North Korea also said it would beat the U.S. in what it called a "fire-to-fire standoff."

Meanwhile, two North Korean envoys met in Santa Fe, New Mexico with Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and diplomatic troubleshooter.

Richardson chatted briefly about the weather with his guests Friday at a picture-taking session at the governor's mansion. Asked to assess the talks, Richardson replied, "I'm not an official negotiator, but they're going well."

Powell said he had talked to Richardson three times but would not offer an assessment until the talks were concluded.

A senior U.S. official said the North Korean diplomats had expressed an interest in dialogue with the United States but had "nothing particularly new" to say to Richardson.

On Monday, the U.N. atomic agency criticized North Korea for removing cameras and other devices that were helpful in monitoring its nuclear programs. But it gave North Korea a last chance to cooperate with international inspections.

The decision by North Korea to quit the treaty followed on Friday.

The U.N. Security Council could punish Pyongyang with worldwide economic sanctions, further deepening its economic crisis.

North Korea's envoy to China hinted that his government would consider reversing its decision if the United States, Japan and South Korea resume fuel shipments.

The Bush administration has ruled out concessions but said otherwise there were no restrictions on talks.

South Korea's ambassador to Washington, Sung Chul Yang, said "Dialogue doesn't mean yielding to their nuclear brinkmanship. Dialogue is to find out what they have in mind."

"Any military flare-up over North Korea having nuclear weapons is a life-and-death scenario," he said in a National Journal interview.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the private Arms Control Association, said North Korea's unfreezing of its plutonium plants and its withdrawal from the treaty were dangerous.

"However," Kimball said, "the United States must pursue a a policy of engagement that produces better results than its failed policy of righteous name-calling."

ElBaradei said Pyongyang's withdrawal from the pact was "a very dangerous precedent" that could contribute to instability on the Korean Peninsula. "Defiance will not achieve its stated objective," he said.