North Korea's threat to boost its nuclear program following talks that sought to close it down was probably a negotiating tactic, South Korea said on Monday.

"It is their first response," Ban Ki-moon, the foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, told reporters. "There is a great chance they did it as a strategic move."

The North said on Saturday that a hardline stance adopted by the United States at last week's talks meant there was no point in continuing negotiations and North Korea had little choice but to enhance its nuclear program.

The threat came just a day after negotiations on the matter between the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States ended without breakthrough, although all parties agreed on another round of talks.

It was not immediately clear if North Korea's latest statement on the matter -- made through its official KCNA news agency -- meant Pyongyang intended reneging on that agreement.

The North is often accused by adversaries of mixing bluster with brinksmanship in diplomatic negotiations.

Ra Jong-yil, South Korea's national security advisor, told reporters all parties involved in the talks would be embarking on diplomacy with a goal being a follow-up meeting.

"It appears we should expect robust diplomatic activity since there have been differences and areas that have not been fully understood among the different countries," Ra said.

"There is no choice but to handle matters through negotiations between different countries," he said.

The crisis began last October when the United States said the North had admitted to a covert nuclear weapons program.

As the situation worsened, the isolated North expelled U.N. inspectors, pulled out of a global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and took a nuclear plant out of mothballs.

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