Japan has refused to provide its share of the one million tons of fuel aid pledged to the reclusive communist state under a February 2007 deal, demanding that Pyongyang first disclose all information on Japanese nationals abducted by the North during the 1970s and 1980s.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters on Tuesday: "Japan will not provide energy aid unless there is progress in the abductees issue - this has been declared before."
The North's Minju Choson paper said: "It is well known that the six-party talks are aimed at freeing the Korean peninsula from atomic weapons. And it is not at all necessary for Japan to take part in this. Moreover, Japanese reactionaries do not want the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Their hidden intention is to bring it to a halt, and use this as a pretext for their own militarization, and fulfill their plans for external expansion."
The paper said North Korea's demand to exclude Japan from the talks, which also involve Russia, China, the United States and South Korea, is also based on Japan's opposition to the U.S. decision to remove Pyongyang from its terrorism blacklist.
Washington made the decision last week after reaching a deal with North Korea on verifying its past nuclear activities.
Japan's announcement has come as a blow to the U.S., which had hoped to conclude the current stage of North Korea's denuclearization process before George W. Bush leaves office in January.
Various international media reports have said China, Russia, the U.S., and South Korea may approach another partner - possibly the European Union or Australia - and ask them to take Japan's place as a donor to North Korea.
Under the six-party deal, the North pledged to dismantle its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor and provide full information on its nuclear program. Last week the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the North had resumed work to deconstruct the reactor, after a pause of several months.
