Mixed Signals From North Korea

North Korea sent sharply differing messages Saturday, vowing to "smash U.S. nuclear maniacs" in a "holy war" while its diplomats told New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson their country had no intention of building nuclear bombs.

Pyongyang's belligerent message included threats to resume long-range missile tests and to begin reprocessing spent fuel rods from its nuclear reactor to make atomic bombs.

The isolated Stalinist regime withdrew from the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as of Saturday and intensified its defiance with a huge rally in the capital, where what officials claimed were a million people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a downtown square embellished with anti-American banners and huge portraits of President Kim Jong Il.

In the South Korean capital of Seoul, about 30,000 people rallied in support of the U.S. military presence as a deterrent to an attack from the North.

The North's harsh language appeared to grow in lockstep with international condemnation of its declaration Friday that it would no longer abide by the pact that served as the keystone in the global attempt to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

In New Mexico, Richardson - a former U.N. ambassador - said North Korea's deputy U.N. Ambassador Han Song Ryol assured him the North wanted improved ties with the United States and had no plans to build a bomb.

"He told me that in a dialogue with the United States, North Korea would discuss America's concerns over verifying its nuclear program. I think that's positive," Richardson said, ending three days of meetings with the North Koreans that he said some were calling "green chile diplomacy" because they occurred in the Southwest.

But CBS News correspondent Tony Guida says few in the international community believe the North Korean diplomats. In fact, the State Department's tells CBS News North Korea is still moving in the wrong direction. Guida reports.

At the State Department, spokeswoman Nancy Beck said Richardson had reported on the talks to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"The United States has made clear that we are prepared to talk to North Korea about its willingness to meet its obligations to the international community," she said. "In New Mexico, North Korea did state its willingness to have a dialogue. ... We will look carefully at everything the North Koreans said in New Mexico. The usual channels of communications remain open."

The Washington Post, in its Saturday editions, describes the Bush administration as "deeply split" over how to deal with the situation.

The Post says some senior officials are "counseling careful engagement," while others are urging "complete isolation" in the hope that would lead to the downfall of the current regime.

The newspaper quotes one official as saying the "very dramatic tensions" within the government have led to "near paralysis" in policymaking.

The threat of new missile test came from the North's ambassador to China, Choe Jin Su, who said tests could resume if the United States does not take steps to improve relations.

"Because all agreements have been nullified by the United States side, we believe we cannot go along with the self-imposed missile moratorium any longer," Choe said in Beijing.

New tests would be the first since 1998, when North Korea fired a missile over Japan into the Pacific. Pyongyang later imposed a moratorium on tests which was to last into 2004.

Another official left open the possibility of the North reprocessing spent fuel rods from its nuclear reactor to make atomic bombs. The United States believes North Korea already has one or two nuclear weapons and could make more in six months if reprocessing to extract plutonium is resumed.

Son Mun San, in charge of Pyongyang's relations with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, said in Vienna, Austria, that spent fuel rods were locked down after a 1994 deal under which the Clinton administration promised big oil deliveries and two light-water nuclear reactors in return for North Korea shutting down its Yongbyon nuclear facility.

Spent fuel from that type of reactor is more easily converted to materials for nuclear bombs. Both sides have stepped back from the deal since the North allegedly told the United States in October it had a secret nuclear program.

Son said the reprocessing plant now stands in a state of "readiness." He said the reactor at the site would be up and running in a matter of weeks, roughly in line with earlier forecasts by the Vienna-based nuclear agency.

On Saturday, a newspaper commentary carried by the North's state news agency KCNA warned: "If any forces attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK, it will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and mete out stern punishment to them."

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.

Since the nuclear standoff resumed, the North has removed seals placed on the Yongbyon facility by IAEA monitors and expelled two inspectors as part of its renunciation of the 1994 U.S. deal.

Now, since the North dropped out of the nonproliferation treaty effective Saturday, the world community has grounds to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose economic and political sanctions could on Pyongyang.

The North has said it would consider sanctions "a declaration of war."

Russia said Saturday it was too soon for council action and urged a diplomatic solution that included a package of humanitarian and economic programs for the Korean peninsula.

Nuclear energy minister Alexander Rumyantsev suggested Moscow build a nuclear power station in North Korea to help with the impoverished North's energy program and bring it back in line with the 1994 agreement.

But the tone in Pyongyang was vitriolic. Premier Hong Song Nam said North Korea was determined to "defend its right to exist from the U.S. imperialists who put an 'axis of evil' cap on us and forced its lackey International Atomic Energy Agency to adopt a resolution to defame the Republic."

Another official called for launching "a holy war against the United States with a military-led might," as the crowd at the rally shouted in unison in response.

Still another urged that the North "punish the enemy with bloody revenge that we have harbored for 100 years."

North Korea has cited "U.S. vicious, hostile policy" and an alleged "nuclear threat from the United States side" for its decision to pull out of the nonproliferation treaty.

North Korean officials said the country does not plan to rejoin the pact, but would agree to let the United States verify that it is not producing nuclear weapons if Washington drops its hostile stance.

"The DPRK may prove through a separate verification between the DPRK and the U.S. that it does not make any nuclear weapons," said a government statement issued in Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, the global outcry against the North spread, with the European Union expressing "grave concern."

President Bush talked by telephone Friday to Chinese President Jiang Zemin in an effort to take a united stand on North Korea.

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

After Mr. Bush talked to Jiang for 15 minutes, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush had told the Chinese President "this binds us in common purpose."

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