North Korea has condemned President Bush for stating the communist country is part of an "axis of evil."

Government officials say Goerge Bush's statemen is little short of a declaration or war.

A North Korea Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country "will never tolerate the US reckless attempt to stifle North Korea by force of arms".

The statement, carried by the country's official news agency KCNA, was the regime's first reaction to Mr Bush's State of the Union speech.

In the speech, President Bush said North Korea, Iran and Iraq formed an "axis of evil," and that "the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."

"This is, in fact, little short of declaring a war against the DPRK," said the North Korean spokesman.

"We are sharply watching moves of the United States that has pushed the situation to the brink of war after throwing away even the mask of 'dialogue' and 'negotiations,'" he said.