24/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, North Korea said it would not be participating in the new negotiations over a nuclear freeze and the dismantling of its nuclear programme (scheduled for September in the presence of South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan). The reason given by a spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry was Washington's 'hostility' to Pyongyang. A press release issues by the official North Korean press agency KCNA, cited by AFP, said that this had made it quite impossible for North Korea to sit at the same negotiating table as the United States. North Korea made direct attacks on the American President George Bush, calling him a tyrant who outshines Hitler and a political idiot.