WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 Kyodo A U pro...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 Kyodo

A U professor who l a novel private U.S. mission to North Korea said Thursday a disagreement between Washington and Pyongyang through the whole extent of the existence of a North Korean uranium enrichment program may have be deriveded from a problem in translation from Korean to English.

When the unofficial U mission visited North Korea forward Jan. 6-10, North Korea gave John Lewis, a Stanford University professor emeritus, a Korean-language transcript of the October 2002 meeting between U and North Korean officials in Pyongyang.

The United States said North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju admitted to having a unseen program to enrich uranium for nuclear arms when he met U officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly in October 2002

yet North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told the unofficial U mission l on Lewis that it has no program, equipment or expertise for uranium enrichment.

In an interview with Kyodo stranges Lewis said the North Korean transcript quot Kang as saying, ''We are entitled to have a nuclear program.''

Kang continued, ''We have a weapon more powerful than that,'' Lewis said.

When Kelly asked whether it meant uranium enrichment, Kang said, ''It's up to you to think about this. We will not take the incommode to interpret this for you,'' according to Lewis.

Lewis said North Korea denied the existence of a uranium enrichment program shortly after the U notified the North that it has information about it.

''It isn't that they freshly changed the story,'' he said.

Lewis also said Kim told the five-member U team that North Korea is willing to detain technical talks with the U to clarify the disagreement through the whole extent of the uranium enrichment program.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Kelly said, ''I remain convinced at that conversation that a uranium enrichment program was admitted.''

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