North Korea has denouncedlarge-scale Russian naval exercises taking place in the RussianPacific and snubbed an invitation to send military observers,Russia's defence minister was quoted as saying today.
Itar-Tass news agency said Defence Minister Sergei Ivanovtold a video-conference with Russian naval chiefs that Pyongyanghad refused to send observers to the manoeuvres saying theywould lead to "a sharpening of the atmosphere on the Koreanpeninsula."
The sharp reaction from Pyongyang came a week before thestart of six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.
The participants in the talks will be Russia, the United States,Japan, China and the two Koreas.