US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview released on Friday only an "idiot" would trust North Korea, which is why the United States is insisting on a way to check its nuclear claims. A 2005 multilateral deal under which Pyongyang would abandon its nuclear programmes has become snagged on Pyongyang's refusal to spell out a protocol on how to verify its disclosures about its nuclear programmes. The sticking point appears to be North Korea's reluctance to allow inspectors to take samples to test a declaration of its atomic programmes that it submitted this year as part of the aid-for-disarmament agreement.
Speaking to a group of foreign policy experts and students on Wednesday, Rice rejected criticism from US conservatives who believe the Bush administration has been too trusting of Pyongyang in recent years. "Nobody was trusting of the North Koreans. I mean, who trusts the North Koreans? You'd have to be an idiot to trust the North Koreans," she said in the appearance at the Council of Foreign Relations think tank, prompting laughter. "That's why we have a verification protocol that we are negotiating," she added.