U.S. Urges N. Korea To Cease Nuke Threats

The White House is urging North Korea to "cease its provocative threats" and respect the will of the rest of the world by honoring its international commitments, according to presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs.

He said North Korea's vow to restart its nuclear reactor and boycott international disarmament talks is a serious step in the wrong direction. North Korea is retaliating for the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its recent rocket launch.

Gibbs said the international community will not accept North Korea unless it abandons what the White House says is its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

As Gibbs spoke, the International Atomic Energy Agency said North Korea is expelling its inspectors and has announced it is reactivating all its nuclear facilities.

An IAEA statement Tuesday said North Korea has told inspectors to remove seals and cameras from the Yongbyon nuclear site and leave the country as quickly as possible.

The moves reflect anger at U.N. Security Council criticism of the country's latest missile launch.

"As the international community feared, North Korea reacted angrily to this week's Security Council condemnation and decision to tighten existing sanctions," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N., "and while the U.S. and Japan worked to specify the sanctions, Russia urged North Korea to reconsider its reaction and China called for calm."

Earlier Tuesday, North Korea vowed to bolster its nuclear deterrent and boycott six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization in protest of a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the country's recent rocket launch.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it "resolutely condemns" the action by the United Nations, which it said "rampantly" infringes upon the country's sovereignty and "severely debases" the people's dignity.

"We have no choice but to further strengthen our nuclear deterrent to cope with additional military threats by hostile forces," the statement said.

The statement also said that "six-party talks that we are taking part in are not necessary any more."

Those negotiations, which also involve China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, began in 2003 and have been aimed at achieving North Korea's denuclearization.

The North also said it will restore nuclear facilities it has been disabling in line with an international disarmament-for-aid deal negotiated under the six-party process and resume operating them.

The statement was the country's first reaction to the Security Council's unanimous condemnation Monday over the April 5 rocket launch, which Pyongyang says sent a satellite into space but critics say tested long-range missile technology.

The Security Council demanded an end to missile tests and said it will expand sanctions against the reclusive communist nation.

The council's statement, agreed on by all 15 members and read at a formal meeting of the United Nations' most powerful body, said the launch violated a council resolution adopted after the North conducted a nuclear test explosion in 2006 that banned any missile tests by the country.

The statement was a weaker response than a U.N. resolution, which had been sought by Japan and the United States but was opposed by China and Russia. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice insisted the statement is legally binding, just like a resolution - a view backed by Russia - but other diplomats and officials disagreed.

In a statement released by the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration welcomed the "clear and united message" from the U.N.

"The United States will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks to achieve the verifiable elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the reduction of tensions on the Korean Peninsula," said Gibbs.

North Korea had threatened last month that any criticism by the U.N. Security Council over the launch would result in the end of the six-party talks.