The New York Times says North Korea is likely to miss a year-end deadline to declare its nuclear programs and disable its main nuclear facilities.

The U.S. daily said in its Friday's Internet edition that the latest setback will create fresh doubt about a deal previously seen as one of the few diplomatic successes of the Bush administration.

The paper quoted South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon as saying that the target date for the North's nuclear disablement and declaration is the end of December, but the North is not likely to meet the deadline.

The daily said the likely delay comes at a delicate time in South Korean politics when the transitional team of President-elect Lee Myung-bak has begun to review his country’s policy toward the North.

Korea University professor Kim Sung-han was quoted as saying North Korea’s strategy appears to be to minimize its nuclear declaration and maximize economic rewards it could get from disabling its nuclear facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex.

Professor Kim said North Korea may also stall on the disablement and declaration process to increase leverage against the new South Korean government, which will be inaugurated in late February.

If the issue is not resolved, the paper said, the United States and its allies may end up disabling North Korea’s plutonium program but may leave it with a potential alternative route to building nuclear bombs with highly enriched uranium.

[Photo : ]