Analysis: Verification next step in N. Korea nuclear deal

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States had to do something dramatic to save a nuclear deal with North Korea from falling apart.

Taking North Korea off the list of countries that sponsor terrorism is a hard step for the U.S. to take.

Administration point man Christopher Hill had to fly to North Korea to keep the ball rolling and to come up with a face-saving deal.

At the State Department, where CNN has an office, information had been tightened down to an unusual degree. No one was talking. Messages and phone calls went unanswered by usually responsive sources. Watch how the U.S. risked criticism at home »

North Korea had accused the U.S. of reneging on a deal to take it off the terror blacklist as promised. The U.S. said North Korea first needed to agree to a plan to verify it was telling the truth about its nuclear secrets .

The deal is: The U.S. removes North Korea from the terror list and North Korea agrees to a plan for verification of its nuclear secrets.

This comes amid escalating tensions as North Korea moves around missiles poised to launch, kicks out nuclear inspectors from its Yongbyon facility, and restarts making bombs.

Formally removing North Korea from this list is politically important. It opens up foreign assistance from international financial organizations.

While North Korea was on the list, the U.S. opposed such assistance. Some sanctions will be lifted, but not all.

North Korea is still subject to sanctions for things like human rights violations, testing a nuclear device, and proliferation. American companies are unlikely to be lining up to do business in North Korea.

The next step in the "action-for-action" deal now moves to verification. The U.S. has to verify the nuclear secrets North Korea handed over in a 19,000-page declaration.

This is where the rubber meets the road.

Inspectors need to take samples of plutonium, go through nuclear waste, access the reprocessing facility, and sample the reactor itself.

Will North Korea cooperate? Within the administration there has been a battle for really tough and intrusive verification, partly a drive by hard-liners to sabotage the deal.

But verification raises other serious questions. North Korea tested a nuclear device back in October 2006. Experts say that means they have other sites, not just the one at Yongbyon, the main site on their declaration.

They must have sites for explosive testing, labs and warheads that the world doesn't know about, the argument goes. Other unanswered questions concern proliferation and what North Korea may have done to help Syria with a nuclear program.

And what about a possible secret uranium enrichment program the North Koreans may have? We know very little about this.

Some experts say whatever Hill has managed to achieve, the question now is: Will it be good enough, flexible enough for the next administration to use as a framework for its negotiations, rather than go back to the North Koreans to modify or renegotiate it?

And don't forget, other analysts say, the Bush administration is also looking out for its legacy. It's been touting North Korea as a foreign policy prize, and it may not want to let go of it too easily.

All About North Korea • Christopher Hill • U.S. Department of State