N. Korea and the Atom Again Disturb U.S.

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.

A senior State Department official said Tuesday that “we’re very deeply troubled” by what he called a great body of evidence indicating that North Korea intends to secretly build a nuclear installation inside a vast underground complex near the nation’s chief nuclear research center.

The excavation deep into a rugged mountainside near Yongbyon is not new, but U.S. spy satellites detected renewed activity by thousands of workers at the site this summer. Officials said construction apparently has not begun on what they suspect could become a new reactor or a reprocessing plant that could convert nuclear waste to bomb-grade plutonium.

After repeated U.S. demands, North Korea has agreed to allow a delegation led by special U.S. envoy Charles Kartman to visit the capital, Pyongyang, for talks next Monday through Wednesday. Kartman’s 12-member delegation will seek unconditional access to the site.

“They’re going to have to prove to us that they’re not doing it,” the State Department official said.

Asked if the Clinton administration would be willing to pay Pyongyang to inspect the site, as North Korea has repeatedly demanded, the U.S. official responded: “The answer is, to put it politely, ‘Hell, no.’ ”

North Korea has denied building a nuclear facility at the site, saying only that the work is for civilian purposes.

In an earlier interview, Kartman said his mission is “extraordinarily significant for the future of relations” with North Korea. He said he will convey Washington’s “intensely serious concerns” to his counterpart, Kim Gye Gwan, a vice foreign minister.

The U.S. contends that a secret nuclear facility would violate the landmark 1994 pact between Washington and Pyongyang. Under the accord, North Korea agreed to halt operations or construction of several plutonium-producing reactors and other facilities. It also allowed U.S. experts to supervise the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel.

In exchange, Japan and South Korea agreed to build two civilian nuclear reactors, at a cost of $4.6 billion, and Washington agreed to arrange delivery of 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year. Both programs have been hampered by repeated delays, giving North Korea ammunition for frequent charges that Washington has violated the pact.

Washington’s traditionally poor relations with North Korea’s Stalinist regime nose-dived after Pyongyang tried to launch a small satellite into orbit in August. The satellite landed in the Pacific Ocean, but the use of a relatively sophisticated three-stage rocket caught the U.S. by surprise.

The surprise was even greater in Tokyo, because the rocket flew eastward in an arc over Japanese territory. But a U.S. intelligence analyst noted that North Korea risked hitting neighboring China, Russia or South Korea if it fired to the west, north or south.

Since then, relations have warmed slightly at four-party talks in Geneva, where diplomats from the U.S., China and the two Koreas recently agreed to steps to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.

At the same time, the North has approved an array of joint ventures, including oil exploration, with the Southern conglomerate Hyundai.

But tensions remain high between the two countries. By all accounts, since the 1950s Pyongyang has prepared for all-out war by digging thousands of tunnels and caves to protect and hide everything from military bases to schools and museums.

U.S. analysts say North Korea has developed missiles capable of hitting South Korea, Japan and several U.S. bases in the Pacific and is now trying to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach Alaska.

The United States has held three rounds of talks with North Korea since 1996 aimed at reducing its production and export of missiles and missile technology to countries such as Iran, Syria and Pakistan.

Last year, the United States offered to ease sanctions against North Korea in exchange for missile curbs. At one point, North Korea said it would consider halting its program for $500 million.

“Prospects? As you can tell, they’re not exactly bright,” said a U.S. official involved in the talks.

In addition, U.S. intelligence has concluded that Pyongyang possesses chemical agents, including blister and nerve gases, and artillery and bombs to deliver them.