WASHINGTON — The Bush administration allowed a previously scheduled delivery of heavy fuel oil to North Korea last week after the Pyongyang government admitted it was violating an arms-control agreement by trying to build a nuclear bomb, administration officials said Tuesday.
The decision not to abort the delivery reflected Washington's restrained reaction to the North Korean confession, which will continue over the next week as President Bush meets with leaders of China, Japan, Russia and South Korea to work out an acceptable way to increase pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
The White House had vowed to go after Iraq alone if necessary. But a senior administration official told reporters the U.S. will enlist the cooperation of other powers in the region to try to force North Korea to destroy its nuclear weapons program. The official said the United States won't formally renounce its 1994 arms agreement with North Korea, including cutting off oil shipments, without making an effort to "ensure that we are in lockstep with our northeast Asian allies."
"People will be wondering, 'Well, why aren't we moving more quickly to take such-and-such a step?' " the official said. "We have to make sure that we work with our allies and make sure that they're comfortable with it and move at the same speed we do."
Though the North Koreans told U.S. officials on Oct. 4 that the 1994 agreement was "nullified," the administration allowed 43,500 tons of heavy fuel oil required under the agreement to be delivered to North Korean ports on Friday.
"It was previously scheduled," the official said. "The next one is scheduled in about a month." The official said no decision had been made about how to handle the next shipment, but others in the administration said it wouldn't occur.
