World IN BRIEF : NORTH KOREA : Pyongyang Rejects Reactor From South

North Korea has rejected a South Korean offer to provide it with a modern reactor, threatening efforts to resolve the Korean nuclear crisis, Seoul officials said. The South Korean offer is “an intolerable insult” with “a sinister political purpose,” North Korea said in radio reports monitored in Seoul and Tokyo. Giving North Korea reactors is a key part of a U.S.-North Korean deal earlier this month aimed at resolving suspicion the North is developing nuclear weapons. American negotiators agreed to help North Korea get modern reactors and give it some form of diplomatic recognition in exchange for Pyongyang’s promise to freeze its nuclear program.