The Koreas: No Nukes -- Maybe

As "expressions of principle" go, the one reached last week by North and South Korea was rich with promise. Under the six-point declaration, which follows the reconciliation accord signed Dec. 13 by the longtime rivals, they agreed to forgo the manufacture, testing and use of nuclear weapons. To ensure a denuclearized peninsula, each side pledged to allow inspection tours of suspected atomic sites.

But the loopholes in the proposed accord could make it meaningless. Precisely which sites will be open to inspection and how the monitors will operate are questions that have not been resolved. The Prime Ministers of the two Koreas expect to close the holes and sign a formal pact later this month. Even so, the agreement still fails to commit North Korea either to signing the International Atomic Energy Agency's nonproliferation treaty or to IAEA inspections.