No Progress Seen in U.S. Bid for Access to Suspect N. Korean Site

There was no sign of progress Saturday in U.S. efforts to gain access to a suspected North Korean underground nuclear weapon site.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan said the first day of the latest round of talks in Geneva had failed to narrow the “huge gap” between Pyongyang and Washington.

The United States has rejected North Korean demands for $300 million as an entry fee to the Kumchangni underground site, which Washington presumes to be nuclear-related. The site, northeast of Pyongyang’s main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, was revealed last summer by satellite spy photos. Pyongyang denies that the site is being used for atomic weapons.

After the session at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva, envoy Charles Kartman brushed aside journalists’ questions. “It was just another day of talking about the underground problems,” he said.

The meeting continues today at the North Korean diplomatic mission.

In a visit to South Korea last week, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said North Korea risks losing aid for a nuclear energy project agreed to in 1994 if it does not open up to inspection.

Although it has ruled out handing over any cash to North Korea, the U.S. has hinted that it might increase its contribution to a U.N. appeal for $376 million in aid to the famine-stricken communist nation.

The outcome of today’s meeting will shape prospects for upcoming wider talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S. and China on negotiating a permanent peace to replace the uneasy truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.