BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The Clinton administration Tuesday signaled North Korea it will stop pushing for sanctions and renew high-level talks if the regime pledges to stop its nuclear-weapons program.
"It's clear that sanctions will have to be held in abeyance" if the North complies with Washington's requests, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said.
The administration insists that the North Koreans:
-- Must not reprocess spent plutonium removed recently from an experimental reactor.
-- Must not refuel the Yongbyon reactor.
-- Must permit inspectors to maintain safeguards against nuclear proliferation.
The offer to freeze the drive for sanctions, with conditions, gives credence to former president Jimmy Carter, who declared the crisis over after a controversial trip to North Korea last week.
During that trip Carter elicited a pledge from President Kim Il Sung to consider halting his nuclear weapons program.
"We have followed up President Carter's statements . . . with a letter to the North Koreans," President Clinton said Tuesday. "We expect and hope to hear back within a couple of days about whether President Carter's understanding of what they said is correct."
Christopher will discuss Korea with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev today.
Meanwhile, North Korean radio reported today that the government had agreed to June 28 talks with South Korea to discuss a possible North-South summit.
