North Korea says no inspection of other facilities

North Korea says no inspection of other facilities

SEOUL (AFP): North Korea has warned the United States against attempting to inspect any other sensitive facilities after the two struck a crucial deal to allow access to a suspected underground nuclear site.

In the first reaction to the accord, a spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry said late Thursday that Pyongyang had "invited" the United States to "visit" the site in return for "payment."

South Korea was meanwhile set to announce the supply of fertilizer aid to the North, which reports here said would be around 50,000 tons worth US$15 million, in the aftermath of the US-Pyongyang agreement this week.

"The DPRK,(North Korea) made it clear that it will take a determined countermeasure if the U.S. raises 'suspicion' of any other object," he said, according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea and the United States, which have remained technically at war since the 1950s Korean conflict, last Tuesday struck a deal in which Pyongyang will allow multiple visits to the suspected nuclear site in Kumchangri.

In return, the United States agreed to provide 1,000 tons of seed potatoes to help increase food production in the famine- stricken Stalinist country, hinting it will seek to improve ties with Pyongyang.

South Korean Foreign Minister Hong Soon-Young said on Wednesday should another Kumchangri be found, "it would be dealt with in a stern and strict manner."

But he said Seoul would positively consider participating in a donation campaign launched by the Red Cross to raise funds to send 100,000 tons of fertilizer to the famine-stricken North.

No other food aid was mentioned in the U.S. statement, but reports in Seoul said North Korea will receive some 600,000 tons of U.S. food aid this year.

The North Korean foreign ministry spokesman admitted his country was building "all sensitive important objects underground in different parts of the country."

"The underground facility whose construction is now in progress in Kumchangri is one of them. It is a non-nuclear facility from A to Z," he said.

"What has been agreed upon at the recent negotiations still remains on a sheet of paper. Whether it is put into practice or not depends entirely upon whether the U.S. side keeps its promise or not."

It insisted that access to the site had been granted voluntarily and that it was "not in response to its (U.S.) demand."

The ministry spokesman said the United States "promised to meet the demands of the DPRK."

The North Korean statement came as Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi arrived in Seoul for the first official trip here by a Japanese head of government in five years.

Obuchi will reportedly deliver a message that Tokyo will never resume aid if Pyongyang launches another missile over Japan during his three-day visit.