North Korea misses deadline for nuclear declaration

South Korean soldiers open a gate for a North Korean train at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Goseong, east of Seoul May 17, 2007.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea missed a year-end deadline to give a full account of its nuclear weapons under a disarmament-for-aid deal struck with regional powers and the United States.

"I think we had all hoped that North Korea would meet the December 31 deadline," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, just hours after midnight North Korean time (10 a.m. EST) had passed.

"We think it's possible for the North Koreans to provide a full and complete declaration and we hope they will do that as soon as possible," he said in Crawford, Texas, where President George W. Bush was vacationing on his ranch.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006, gave no explanation for missing the deadline, which had been agreed in February in talks between United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

The United States and allies South Korea and Japan issued coordinated statements on Sunday lamenting Pyongyang's failure to deliver the expected declaration of its atomic activities in exchange for aid.

But the United States seemed to temper its disappointment.

"The important thing is not whether we have the declaration by today," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "The important thing is we get a declaration that meets the requirement of the agreement, which means it needs to be full and complete."

In Tokyo, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official urged Pyongyang "to provide a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs as quickly as possible."

"It is unfortunate that this declaration has not been provided yet," the official said.

In early November, North Korea began disabling its aging Yongbyon nuclear complex, which is also required under the nuclear deal.

The process is the first tangible action the secretive state has made to take apart its nuclear arms program since it began its quest for atomic weapons in earnest in the 1980s.

"Good progress has been made at Yongbyon," said Stanzel. "But there does have to be a complete and full declaration and this cannot be a situation where the North Koreans pretend to give a complete declaration."

Shortly before the deadline passed, North Korea blamed the United States for hurting prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula by continuing to harbor an intention to attack it -- something Washington has repeatedly denied.

"The reality testifies once again that there is no change in the U.S. intention to invade us with force and occupy the whole of Korea, although the U.S. is uttering 'peace' and 'dialogue,'" the North's communist party newspaper said in a commentary.

"Dialogue and war attempts can't stand together."

DEAL NOT JEOPARDIZED

U.S. officials estimate North Korea has produced about 110 pounds (50 kgs) of plutonium, enough for about eight nuclear weapons, and launched a clandestine program to enrich uranium for weapons.

However, analysts said the nuclear deal would not be jeopardized for now.

Earlier this year. North Korea missed a separate deadline without retribution to freeze its Yongbyon reactor because of a dispute over its international finances.

It had lived up to its obligations after that dispute was settled.

If the destitute North meets the conditions of the six-nation deal, it will receive 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid and Washington would take it off its terrorism blacklist, which could help it tap into international finance.

A leading Chinese academic said it was important for all parties to the nuclear disarmament talks to keep influencing North Korea, and that was why China had taken a sanguine stance over the deadline.

"There has been no strong evidence between February 13 and October 1 that North Korea has truly made up its mind to denuclearize," said Zhu Feng, director of Peking University's International Security Program.

"None of the parties involved are convinced yet that North Korea is really ready to denuclearize. Everyone was a bit disappointed but agreed the situation was not too bad," Zhu said.

(Additional reporting by John Herskovitz and Yoo Choonsik in Seoul, George Nishiyama in Tokyo and Chen Aizhu in Beijing; Writing by Chris Wilson; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Cynthia Osterman)