DATE=3/14/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=KOREAS/U-S (L-O)

NUMBER=2-273700

BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG

DATELINE=SEOUL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Pyongyang has denounced the United States for taking a hostile attitude towards North Korea. The comments, aired on North Korean state radio, are the first public criticism of the United States since last week's meeting between President Bush and South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung. Hyun-Sung Khang reports from Seoul.

TEXT: North Korea has denounced Washington for what it describes as its increasingly - provocative and imprudent - attitude towards the communist country. In a commentary on North Korean state radio, Pyongyang says that since the inauguration of President Bush, the United States has adopted a hostile attitude towards North Korea.

The radio accuses Washington of making an issue out of, what Pyongyang calls - the non-existent threat from North Korea. It says Washington's behavior shows that the United States has no intention of improving ties.

The broadcast was monitored by Seoul's Yonhap news agency. Along with similar reports released by North Korea's other state media, it is the first public criticism of the new U-S administration since last week's meeting between President Bush and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Washington.

During the meeting, President Bush said the United States would not immediately resume negotiations on North Korea's missile program.

Analysts in Seoul suggest those comments have angered Pyongyang. On Tuesday, North Korea abruptly postponed ministerial level talks, hours before they were due to begin.

In recent weeks, North Korea threatened to pull out of missile and nuclear accords with the United States, partly in protest at what it described as - Washington's hardline approach.

There is concern in Seoul that a tougher stance from Washington may disrupt warming ties between North and South Korea. Korea has been divided between the communist North and the pro-Western South since World War II. But since last year's summit between the leaders of the two former Cold War enemies, relations have dramatically improved. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/HSK/HB/RAE