U.S. Consults Key Allies on North Korea Sanctions

The Clinton Administration began consultations Friday with key U.S. allies on imposing punitive sanctions against North Korea, but officials said the plan initially calls for only mild restrictions to avoid pushing Pyongyang into further isolation.

Robert L. Gallucci, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, met separately in Washington with South Korean and Japanese officials in preparation for a broader conference involving all three allies early this morning.

At the same time, senior Administration policy-makers traveling with President Clinton in Europe conferred privately with British, French and German counterparts. They also telephoned Chinese officials, whose support is considered crucial for approval of a sanctions resolution.

Clinton himself called South Korean President Kim Young Sam, who agreed on the broad U.S. strategy. The President also phoned Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, rejecting a new Russian proposal to convene an international conference to discuss the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.

The flurry of activity marked the start of what is expected to be a complex effort to build a coalition in favor of some sort of sanctions--by the middle of next week, officials hope, when the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to take up the issue.

Hans Blix, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, briefed Security Council members on his agency’s conclusion that Pyongyang has made it all but impossible for inspectors to determine whether it has diverted spent fuel to make nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, North Korea appealed for a new round of talks with the United States. But it was rebuffed by the Administration, which repeated its intention to pursue imposition of sanctions.

There were some initial signs that China might be easing its longstanding opposition to U.N. sanctions against North Korea--possibly a result of Clinton’s decision last week to continue special trade preferences for Beijing.

Diplomats said China has seemed more cooperative in recent negotiations. Wire services said a government-controlled newspaper reported Friday that if an embargo were ordered, Beijing would halt food and oil supplies to North Korea.

But Washington-based diplomats said the Administration is considering the possibility of pushing for relatively modest sanctions at first to avoid provoking Pyongyang into withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which governs reactor inspections.

If Pyongyang still does not yield, the allies would then press for a freeze on North Korea’s financial transactions and, finally, for a cutoff of oil and food supplies.

One concession that Washington wants Pyongyang to make immediately is to allow international inspectors to take samplings and measurements at its two major radioactive waste sites--an alternative to analyzing spent fuel rods in its reactor, which already has been emptied.

All sides conceded that pushing a sanctions resolution through the Security Council is likely to be difficult. Even Japan, which opposes North Korea’s nuclear program, said it wants the United Nations to issue another warning before invoking sanctions.

Gallucci told reporters that the United States would “not be intimidated” by Pyongyang’s warnings that it would regard any imposition of sanctions as an act of war.