Nuclear Weapons North Korea

The United States could offer economic and diplomatic benefits to North Korea for access to a suspected North Korean nuclear weapons site, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung proposed Monday. Kim made the proposal during a meeting with William J. Perry, the newly appointed U.S. government policy coordinator on North Korea. The former U.S. defense minister arrived Sunday on a three-nation Asia tour, which includes stops in Tokyo and Beijing.

Senior Clinton administration officials are threatening to end a historic 1994 nuclear pact with North Korea if that country does not allow inspections of a suspicious underground construction site, the New York Times reports today. In the 1994 pact, North Korea promised to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for billions of dollars of energy assistance. North Korean officials described the threat to end the agreement as nearly an act of war, the Times said. Former U.S.

North Korea has dropped its demand for $300 million to allow a U.S. inspection of a suspected nuclear weapons site and instead will accept food and other economic benefits, Seoul newspapers reported today. Quoting unidentified sources in Washington, two major South Korean newspapers--Joong Ang Daily News and Dong-A Ilbo--said the agreement was reached in recent negotiations in New York and Washington.

After tense talks, U.S. and North Korean negotiators agreed Tuesday to meet again later this week to try to break a deadlock over American demands to inspect a suspected nuclear weapons facility in North Korea. Some U.S. officials said the decision to resume talks Thursday in New York was a positive sign given the mounting tension and war of words between Washington and the Communist regime. The talks began Friday in New York and had shifted to Washington this week.

North Korea has failed to meet U.S. demands for access to the site of underground construction work that could be part of a revived nuclear program, the State Department said Wednesday. "I cannot say that we were satisfied with the response we received. . . . We did not get access on terms we find acceptable. There are wide gaps in our approach to this problem," said spokesman James P. Rubin, reporting on two days of meetings in Pyongyang between U.S. and North Korean officials. The U.S.

Throughout the past few days in Asia, President Clinton has been struggling to prevent North Korea from turning into the top global crisis for his administration next year. The president has tried to work out a united front with Japan and South Korea, the two countries he is visiting. He hopes that the three allies together can persuade North Korea to stop firing missiles around the region, as well as prove that it has stopped developing nuclear weapons.

Illustrating the United States' two-pronged approach toward Communist North Korea, President Clinton sent a stern warning to Pyongyang on Saturday about a suspected nuclear site and also delivered a virtual commercial for new cruise boat tours from South Korea to its isolated neighbor to the north.

Four years after the United States persuaded North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program, concern is mounting over what Washington fears is a covert attempt by the rogue Communist regime to restart its nuclear effort.

Despite international pressure to curtail its missile program, North Korea is building at least two new launch facilities for the medium-range Taepo Dong-1 and has stepped up production of short-range missiles, U.S. intelligence sources said. President Clinton, who arrives in South Korea today for a state visit, is scheduled to address the missile issue with his hosts as part of discussions on security matters.

North Korea could turn the capitalist South into a "sea of flames" and scorch Japan in a nuclear attack, a top defector from the North was quoted as saying in a leading Seoul newspaper Tuesday. Hwang Jang Yop's reported disclosure is the strongest suggestion so far that North Korea has developed tactical nuclear weapons. The isolated Communist nation has denied having a nuclear weapons program.