NK Denounces US for Defending Israel Against Syria

North Korea on Monday denounced Washington and U.S. media for siding with Israel after its air strike on Syria, but kept silent on suspicions raised by the New York Times and other American media about possible trade of nuclear materials between the North and Syria, Yonhap News reported.

"Israeli warplanes' intrusion into the territorial airspace of Syria and subsequent bomb-dropping are an outright and violent violation of Syria's sovereignty. The Israeli acts are also a grave crime that destroys regional peace and security," Yonhap quoted the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's Workers' Party, as saying in an article.

"But the U.S. has supported and defended Israelis' impudent behavior. U.S. media have also run wrongful articles on Israeli warplanes' violation of the Syrian airspace," said the paper.

North Korea and the U.S., along with four other nations -- South Korea, China, Russia and Japan -- are scheduled to meet at the upcoming six-party talks on disabling the North's nuclear weapons program in Beijing on Sept. 27-30.

U.S. President George W. Bush, apparently referring to reports of a possible nuclear trade between North Korea and Syria, said last week that he expects North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and not allow other countries to gain its know-how on producing such technology and weapons.

Last week, both North Korea and Syria strongly denied U.S. media reports alleging that the U.S. had collected information on secret nuclear cooperation between the two nations.

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