By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea handed over along-delayed account of its nuclear activities on Thursday, astep that will bring the North relief from U.S. sanctions butstill leave questions about its atomic ambitions.
U.S. President George W. Bush cautiously welcomed the move,but warned North Korea, which tested a nuclear device two yearsago, it faced consequences if it did not fully disclose itsoperations.
"The United States has no illusions about the regime inPyongyang," Bush told reporters at the White House.
"We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's humanrights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testingand proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat itcontinues to pose to South Korea and its neighbours."
The United States said it would act to remove North Koreafrom its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 45 days, aswell as lift sanctions under the "Trading with the Enemy Act".
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier toldreporters in the Japanese city of Kyoto there was still work todo in verifying that North Korea had given up the pursuit ofatomic weapons.
She also underscored Washington's continued wariness.
"But still it must be asked: What if North Korea cheats?,"Rice said in a commentary in the Wall Street Journal.
"The answer is simple: We will hold North Koreaaccountable. We will reimpose any applicable sanctions that wehave waived -- plus add new ones."
Experts on the long-running dispute said the declarationwas a step forward, but one that took the negotiators deeperinto uncertainties about who will make further concessions, andhow much other countries are willing to trust Pyongyang.
"My take on this is that since this particular declarationhas not included nuclear weapons or the exact number ofwarheads they have, that is a key concern. The other thing iswhether or not the North Koreans have stopped work on theuranium enrichment programme and how far that has gone," saidLee Chung-min, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.
"Unless those two issues are verified, I think the thirdstep towards complete dismantlement is still quite far off."
"WE CAN VERIFY"
China, the closest Pyongyang has to an ally, has hostedsix-country talks that last year secured a deal offering NorthKorea energy, aid and diplomatic concessions in return fordisabling its main nuclear facility and unveiling its pastnuclear activities.
"We believe we have ... the means by which to verify thecompleteness and accuracy of this document," Rice toldreporters.
"For instance, in order to verify the plutonium number thatthe North Koreans have given, we have been given documents, butwe also are expecting access to the reactor core, to the wastepool," she said, referring to North Korea's nuclear reactor atYongbyon.
The latest phase of the nuclear disarmament deal was duefor completion by the end of 2007, but wrangling over money,aid and the contents of the North's "declaration" has held upprogress.
The six-party talks bring together North and South Korea,China, the United States, Japan and Russia and there have beenmany expected near-breakthroughs over the years that nevermaterialised.
The United States said North Korea had also pledged todestroy on Friday the cooling tower at its Yongbyon complex, asymbolic event highlighting its commitment to disable thesource of its bomb-grade plutonium.
The steam seen coming out of the cooling tower in spysatellite images has been the most visible sign of the plant'soperation. In an unprecedented move, North Korea has invitedsome Western media to record the event.
The chief U.S. envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary ofState Chris Hill, told reporters on Wednesday in Kyoto where G8foreign ministers are meeting, that North Korea's declarationwas likely to be soon followed by a new round of six-partynegotiations.
Bush bracketed North Korea, Iraq and Iran in an "axis ofevil" after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the UnitedStates, accusing them of state-sponsored terrorism and ofseeking weapons of mass destruction.
Removal from the U.S. list would ease trade restrictionsand open the way for other cooperation with the United States,and eventually enable North Korea to work with the World Bankand other international institutions.
"What happens after the declaration will largely depend ondomestic political factors in the United States," said ShiYinhong, a regional security expert at Renmin University inBeijing.
"If U.S. domestic pressure is not big, President Bush willhave room to offer North Korea more concessions before his termends."
(Additional reporting by Alan Elsner in Washington, ChrisBuckley in Beijing, Susan Cornwell in Kyoto, and Jack Kim inSeoul; Writing by Jeremy Laurence; Editing by David Fogarty)
