Pyongyang has rebuffed Washington’s call for talks to ease the recent escalation in tensions on the Korean peninsula, and accused the US of portraying it as an aggressor while threatening North Korea with nuclear weapons. 朝鲜回绝了美国提出的举行谈判以缓解朝鲜半岛最近紧张升级的呼吁，指责美国一方面把朝鲜描述成侵略者，另一方面拿核武器威胁朝鲜。

During a visit to South Korea last Friday, US secretary of state John Kerry said the Obama administration was willing to talk to North Korea, while emphasising that Pyongyang must show an intention to abide by previous commitments to suspend its nuclear programme. 美国国务卿约翰•克里(John Kerry)上周五在访问韩国时表示，奥巴马政府愿意同朝鲜举行谈判，同时强调朝鲜必须展示其有意遵守此前作出的暂停核计划承诺。

Late on Tuesday, North Korean state media quoted a foreign ministry official saying that Mr Kerry’s remarks were “a crafty ploy to evade the blame for the tension on the eve of a war”, and that Pyongyang could only engage in “genuine dialogue” once it had developed its own nuclear deterrent. 周二晚些时候，朝鲜官方媒体援引外务省一名官员的话说，克里的言辞是“在战争前夕逃避引发局势紧张指责的狡猾手段”，朝鲜只有在发展自己的核威慑之后才能投入“真正的对话”。

The official added that the severe deterioration of relations over the past month stemmed from the US-led imposition of UN sanctions in response to North Korea’s satellite launch in December. 朝鲜官方补充道，过去一个月关系严重恶化，是由于美国带头推动联合国针对朝鲜去年12月发射卫星出台制裁措施。

The UN Security Council said it was a test of ballistic missile technology, which Pyongyang is banned from conducting under UN resolutions. The North Korean official said the most recent sanctions were “an encroachment upon the legitimate right of a sovereign state to develop space and its sovereignty”. 联合国安理会(UN Security Council)表示，朝鲜是在测试弹道导弹技术，而根据联合国决议，朝鲜被禁止从事此类活动。朝鲜官员表示，最近的制裁“侵犯了一个主权国家开发空间技术的合法权利及其主权”。

North Korea’s bellicose rhetoric intensified in early March as the US and South Korea started conducting annual joint military exercises, which Pyongyang has called preparation for an attack against it. 3月初，随着美国与韩国展开年度联合军演，朝鲜的好战言论进一步升级，称美韩联合军演是攻击朝鲜的准备。

On Tuesday, North Korea said these “nuclear war manoeuvres” had compelled it to take military countermeasures for self-defence, adding that the US had used the opportunity to deploy military assets to the region as part of its “pivot” to Asia. 周二，朝鲜表示，这些“核战演练”迫使它采取军事对策进行自卫。朝鲜还补充道，美国借机在该地区部署军力，构成其“转向亚洲”战略的一部分。

“The DPRK is not opposed to dialogue but has no idea of sitting at the humiliating negotiating table with the party brandishing a nuclear stick,” the North Korean official said, adding that dialogue would be possible when North Korea had acquired a nuclear deterrent sufficient to “defuse the US threat of nuclear war”. 上述朝鲜官员表示：“朝鲜民主主义人民共和国不反对对话，但拒绝同挥舞核大棒的一方一起坐在屈辱的谈判桌上，”并且补充道，只有在朝鲜拥有强大核威慑力量、足以“解除美国核战威胁”的时候，才有可能展开对话。

Daniel Pinkston, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the statement was consistent with previous pronouncements. “They’re so committed [to the nuclear programme]. People fail to recognise that this policy was announced by the party central committee – they wrote it into law.” 国际危机集团(International Crisis Group)的分析师丹尼尔•平克斯顿(Daniel Pinkston)表示，朝鲜这一声明与此前公告一致。“他们铁了心（开发核武器）。人们没有意识到这一政策是朝鲜党中央委员会宣布的，他们已把这一政策写入法律。”

Meanwhile, Seoul’s unification ministry said North Korea had denied entry to 10 South Korean businessmen seeking to visit their operations at the Kaesong industrial complex. 同时，韩国统一部表示，10名韩国商人试图视察他们在开城工业区(Kaesong Industrial Complex)的企业经营情况，但朝鲜不准他们进入。