U.S. May Send Envoy to N. Korea

The Clinton administration may send former Defense Secretary William J. Perry to North Korea in what would be a high-profile effort to try to resolve disputes over that nation’s nuclear and missile programs, according to U.S. officials.

Perry was appointed late last year to conduct a review of U.S. policy toward North Korea. If he visits Pyongyang, capital of the secretive Communist state, it will be the most significant and high-level contact between Washington and the North since former President Carter made a similar journey in 1994.

State Department spokesman James Foley told reporters Tuesday that Perry “has no plans currently to visit there [North Korea].” However, the possibility of such a trip was discussed last week at a meeting of senior administration officials, according to an administration source.

North Korea ranks with Iraq and Kosovo among the top foreign-policy problems confronting the Clinton administration. Under a deal worked out after Carter’s visit, Pyongyang agreed to stop producing the fuel for nuclear weapons in exchange for two nuclear power plants and some supplies of fuel oil.

But over the last six months, the viability of that deal has been called into question by two developments: North Korea’s firing of a new three-stage missile across Japan’s airspace, and the discovery by American intelligence that the North was preparing an underground site for what appears to be a new nuclear weapons facility.

The discussion of a possible Perry mission is merely one component of an intensifying international effort to deter North Korea from developing weapons of mass destruction. U.S. Special Ambassador Charles Kartman is expected to meet with North Korean officials in New York this week to try to arrange an inspection of the suspicious-looking underground site.

Meanwhile, according to U.S. officials, there are signs that Chinese President Jiang Zemin may be preparing for talks with North Korean President Kim Jong Il.

A meeting between the leaders of North Korea and China--on which the Pyongyang regime depends for both food and oil supplies--would be rare, apparently the first of its kind in more than a decade.

Some Clinton administration officials believe that China has been helping the United States in trying to deal with North Korea. They point out that China does not want to see its neighbor develop nuclear weapons and that Beijing, like Washington, wants to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula.

However, others within the U.S. government are skeptical about the role China has been playing.

“In our public statements, sure, we say the Chinese are helping, that they have similar interests. But is there any solid evidence to show that the Chinese are helping? No,” said a U.S. official with access to intelligence reports.

Perry, who stepped down as Defense secretary in 1996, was appointed to undertake a comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward North Korea at a time when the Clinton administration was worried that its policy was in serious trouble. In the wake of North Korea’s missile test in August, Congress threatened to cut off funds for the fuel oil that is being supplied to the North under the 1994 deal. If that agreement fell apart, administration officials fear, North Korea could start making nuclear material again.

But critics in Congress and elsewhere complain that the 1994 agreement isn’t worth much if North Korea is building secret installations that would violate the terms of the deal. Moreover, the deal is a limited one that covers only the North’s nuclear program, not its development of ballistic missiles.

Perry is said to be preparing a package of carrots and sticks aimed at goading North Korea to curb programs for weapons of mass destruction and to enter into a new relationship with the United States.

For example, the North might be told that the Clinton administration will take steps toward an easing of economic sanctions or the establishment of diplomatic relations if it cooperates with the United States. Pyongyang also might be told that there will be no more food aid or other economic benefits if it keeps firing missiles.

“He [Perry] has not yet submitted his final conclusions,” said a senior administration official last week. “And whatever he recommends is advisory.”

There have been indications that the Clinton administration has been uneasy about giving Perry too prominent or powerful a voice in North Korea policy. One U.S. official said last week that the administration is worried about what he called “Holbrooke-ism.”

That was a reference to former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, who took charge of efforts for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina and successfully negotiated a peace agreement in 1995. In the end, Holbrooke won more credit for the deal than more senior officials, such as Secretary of State Warren Christopher or National Security Advisor Anthony Lake.