N. Korea Snubs U.N. Appeal for Nuclear Inspections

North Korea on Monday rebuffed a U.N. appeal for complete inspections of its suspect nuclear sites and said it plans to “normalize” its nuclear activities.

State Department spokesman Mike McCurry said it was not clear what that might portend.

“Since the United States has opted . . . to put pressure on (North Korea), we cannot but normalize our peaceful nuclear activities,” said the statement carried by the north’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Meanwhile, the United States confirmed Monday that North Korea has expanded its capacity to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.

McCurry said the Clinton Administration is not convinced that this means Pyongyang is bent on flouting the international community by pressing forward with its atomic arms program.

McCurry said the information on the plutonium program was provided by Hans Blix, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. McCurry again called on North Korea to permit inspections of seven suspect sites.

There is concern that North Korea either has developed a nuclear weapon or is close to doing so.