South Korea ? North Korea said today that it wants Japan out of six-party disarmament talks, calling officials in Tokyo “political imbeciles” for saying they will not accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power.

Meanwhile, the North’s leader Kim Jong Il made his first public military visit since the Oct. 9 test, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported late Friday. He visited an army unit but it was not clear from the report when it took place.

The North agreed earlier this week to return to the international disarmament negotiations – which also include China, Russia, the U.S. and South Korea – in the first relaxation of tension after its Oct. 9 nuclear test. The talks have been stalled for a year.