Experts dubious of N. Korea pledge to verify all nuke facilities

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. experts on Korea are skeptical about the
agreement on verification of North Korea's nuclear facilities that was announced
by the U.S. government Saturday.
"As always with North Korea, the devil is in the details of the agreement and
much needs to be revealed," Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the
Heritage Foundation, told Yonhap News Agency in an e-mail. "While there is
increased hope for a satisfactory diplomatic resolution of the North Korean
nuclear problem, a final judgment must be withheld until a clearer picture
emerges."
Klingner said preliminary indications "appear positive," noting the Bush
administration "claimed that Washington received all that it asked for on
verification."
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier in the day that the
U.S. took North Korea off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, adding
the North had agreed to verification of all of its nuclear facilities, including
its alleged uranium-based nuclear program and suspected nuclear proliferation.
"This would mark a surprising reversal by Pyongyang from its previous refusal to
even acknowledge the existence of a uranium program or any proliferation
activities," Klingner said. "North Korea refused to include these issues in its
flawed June 26th 'complete and correct' data declaration."
The Bush administration has delayed the delisting for nearly two months after the
45-day deadline passed on Aug. 11, due mainly to the North's reluctance to allow
nuclear inspectors access to its uranium-based program and verify its alleged
transfer of nuclear technology to Syria.
Hardliners in Washington have denounced Bush for accepting the North's June
nuclear declaration, which does not address its alleged uranium-program and
nuclear proliferation, saying the efforts are simply part of Bush's desire for a
rare diplomatic achievement in his waning months.
"It is puzzling that such a dramatic positive reversal occurred since President
Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Aso rejected the draft agreement just a few days
ago," Klingner said.
Bush telephoned Aso early Monday, just hours before announcing the verification
agreement, apparently to soothe Tokyo's concerns over the issue of North Korean
kidnappings of Japanese citizens decades ago.
Some reports said a face-saving measure proposed in Pyongyang last week by the
chief U.S. nuclear envoy was rejected by Bush early this week due to strong
opposition from Japan and U.S. hardliners, who saw loopholes in the agreement.
U.S. hardliners also say North Korea has no real intention to abandon its nuclear
arsenal, and is simply buying time with the Bush administration as it awaits the
outcome of the November elections.
"It is also uncertain why North Korea was engaged in escalatory behavior if it
had already agreed to the agreement," Klingner said. "During the past week,
Pyongyang has issued harsh statements, threatened military action against South
Korean naval forces, and may even be preparing for missile or nuclear tests. This
suggests that the agreement may not be as all-encompassing as Washington
suggests."
North Korea is notorious for its brinkmanship strategy in negotiations, which
does not address substantive issues but focuses instead on minor details that
often hamstring talks.
Richard Bush, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said he looks forward
to the day when "North Korea realizes that it does not have to engage in
provocative behavior in order to resolve serious, substantive issues."
According to the agreement released by the State Department, nuclear inspectors
of the U.S. and other parties to the six-way talks are allowed access to North
Korea's declared nuclear facilities, but are only permitted access to undeclared
facilities upon Pyongyang's "mutual consent."
Bush said he has "no illusions that there will be no future impasses in the
future," saying the agreement's wording of "mutual consent" for verification
inspections and sampling "virtually guarantees that there will be more
disagreements."