MOSCOW, Sept. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Pyongyang will not give up its nuclear weapons development program until it receives a promised light-water nuclear reactor by the United States, said a statement circulated Wednesday by the embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Russia.

    "What counts most is to ensure that the U.S. immediately provides a light-water nuclear reactor, which will demonstrate recognition of the DPRK right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," a spokesman for DPRK's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

    "Until a light-water reactor, a physical guarantor for confidence-building measures, is provided, one would rather not dream about the nuclear deterrence potential the DPRK has already obtained being dismantled," the diplomat said.

    It still needs time to make sure that the U.S. is actually working at the 'action-for-action' stage, the DPRK spokesman notedand warned "If they continue to insist that the nuclear arms program should be dismantled before a light-water reactor is provided, nothing will change between the DPRK and the U.S. in the nuclear problem, while the consequences may be quite serious and painful."

    If the U.S. decides to violate the latest agreements reached atthe fourth round of the six-nation talks in Beijing, "the DPRK will not hesitate to follow the path set by the army priority policy," the diplomat stressed.

    At the six-party talks in Beijing on Monday, the DPRK had promised to drop its nuclear program for economic assistance and security assurance, the first agreement in more than two years of contentious negotiations.

    The six parties, including China, DPRK, South Korea, Russia, Japan and the US, had agreed at the fourth round of talks to wind up Pyongyang's nuclear programs in return for aid and recognition of its right to a civilian nuclear program.

    They also agreed to discuss providing a light-water reactor "atan appropriate time". Enditem