Jay Lefkowitz, special envoy for human rights in North Korea, also accused China and South Korea of not exerting enough pressure on North Korea during the talks that first began in 2003 to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.

"It is increasingly clear that North Korea will remain in its present nuclear status when the administration leaves office in one year," he told a forum in Washington.

Using unusually sharp words, he said North Korea "has not kept its word," was "not serious about disarming in a timely manner" and "its conduct does not appear to be that of a government that is willing to come in from the cold."

Lefkowitz also accused Pyongyang of being a "serial proliferator" and using its nuclear arms to "extort" foreign aid, saying there was no guarantee that US military and nuclear strength could prevent it from passing on nuclear arms or technology to Islamists or their backers.

His remarks came after North Korea missed a key December 31 deadline to disable its main nuclear facilities and give a full declaration of its atomic programs in return for economic aid under a deal agreed in February 2007.

The delay is believed to be over North Korea's reported refusal to provide information on US evidence that the isolated regime maintained a secretive uranium enrichment program alongside its plutonium powered nuclear plant.

White House officials had no immediate reaction to Lefkowitz's comments.

Chief US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill earlier cautioned patience with North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in October 2006.

"There is a new South Korean government to be installed on February 25," he said during a stop in Moscow on his way back to the United States from the region on January 11.

"It would be nice if this was solved ahead of time (...) but I am not setting any new deadline," he said.

Lefkowitz's speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute forum was based on a prepared text and mirrors a longstanding split within the Bush administration on how to handle North Korea.

Pyongyang on Wednesday accused US hardliners of trying to wreck the nuclear deal, saying the issue would never be resolved by pressure tactics.

Lefkowitz charged that China and South Korea -- the two nations with the most leverage over the North Korean regime -- were "unwilling to apply significant pressure on Pyongyang" to abandon its nuclear weapons arsenal.

Because of this, he said, recent six-party talks involving China, the United States, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas, "in actuality, became a bilateral negotiation between the US and North Korea."

Lefkowitz called for a "new approach" in disarmament talks -- "perhaps even bilaterally" -- with North Korea that would permanently link human rights as part of the engagement policy and a critical condition for any normalization of diplomatic relations.

"The six-party talks have not involved human rights. However, there is a valid question of whether this continues to make sense," he said.

He said his proposed new concept of dialogue with North Korea could evolve to resemble the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which emerged with the Helsinki Final Act as a significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions.

As North Korea was unlikely to prefer such new talks, Lefkowitz said any economic assistance to the country must be given only in return for "tangible, verifiable progress on all issues that are a component of the dialogue."

He also called for restrictions on the North Korean regime's access to the US and international banking system -- "which has at times been necessary before, given the regime's involvement in money laundering."

earlier related report
US government rejects envoy's NKorea dissent
The US government on Friday tamped down an unprecedented public insurrection on North Korea policy, repudiating a US envoy's criticisms of China and South Korea and reaffirming its six-country diplomatic strategy.

The White House and State Department insisted that the United States and its partners in the process -- China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea -- were "unified" in seeking an end to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.

"There is a great deal of unanimity," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said one day after the highly unusual broadside from President George W. Bush's special North Korea envoy for human rights, Jay Lefkowitz.

"We do believe that the five parties of the six-party talks, who are encouraging North Korea to relinquish their nuclear program, stand together and are unified in that effort," said Fratto.

"At the end of the day, the only voice that matters is that of the president of the United States, and this is his policy," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of the multilateral approach.

McCormack praised Lefkowitz's personal qualities but stressed: "He is not, however, somebody who speaks authoritatively about the six-party talks. His comments certainly don't represent the views of the administration."

McCormack said that chief US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill -- not Lefkowitz, who became special envoy in August 2005 -- was qualified to discuss the state of talks meant to disarm North Korea.

Later, the State Department formally denied the envoy's claim that the strategy for dealing with the Stalinist state, which tested a nuclear bomb in October 2006, was under review.

Washington has expressed growing frustration that North Korea missed a key December 31 deadline to disable its main nuclear facilities and fully disclose its atomic programs in return for economic aid under a February 2007 deal.

The delay is believed to be over North Korea's reported refusal to provide information on US evidence that the isolated regime maintained a secretive uranium enrichment program alongside its plutonium powered nuclear plant.

Lefkowitz charged in a speech late Thursday that North Korea used its nuclear arsenal to "extort" foreign aid, was "not serious" about disarming, and would likely not give up its weapons before Bush's term ends in January 2009.

He also called for a "new approach" in disarmament talks -- "perhaps even bilaterally" -- with North Korea that would permanently link human rights as part of the engagement policy and a critical condition for any normalization of diplomatic relations.

In addition, he said that China and South Korea -- the two nations with the most leverage over the North Korean regime -- were "unwilling to apply significant pressure on Pyongyang" to abandon its nuclear weapons arsenal.

It was unclear whether Lefkowitz's remarks were a warning shot across North Korea's bow in a bid to speed its declaration, or a sign that critics of the engagement strategy were asserting themselves after the unmet deadline.

One former senior US official who has criticized the six-party process, John Bolton, said that Lefkowitz's sharp words showed that a split inside the US government on how to proceed on North Korea was "definitely still alive."

"And, I think, alive in the president's own mind," said Bolton, who served Bush as under secretary for arms control and international security and US ambassador to the United Nations.

"I don't think he likes the situation he is in on North Korea. And I still think there is a chance that North Korea's non-performance can yet lead to the president to repudiate the February 2007 deal," he said.

Bolton said that North Korea needed to be "much higher" on Washington's list of priorities for the US-China relationship, adding "we need China to take a stronger role.

Pyongyang on Wednesday accused US hardliners of trying to wreck the nuclear deal, saying the issue would never be resolved by pressure tactics.

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