The agreement concerns an underground site at Kumchangri in North Korea that the United States suspects may constitute part of a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

``Secretary (of State, Madeleine) Albright is pleased to announce an agreement has been struck in New York with the North Koreans on access to the site at Kumchangri,'' State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

In addition, Rubin said the two sides had agreed to resume missile talks in Pyongyang on March 29.

``The agreement we've reached addresses the concerns that we've had,'' he said, stressing that Washington had gotten assurances from the North Koreans for multiple inspections of the site.

The accord followed 14 days of negotiations between the two sides that opened at the US mission to the United Nations on January 27.

US negotiators werepressing for the right to inspect the site that they suspect is in violation of a 1994 deal, under which Pyongyang pledged to halt its nuclear weapons program in exchange for international help in building two light-water nuclear reactors.

Under the agreement, the first US inspection will take place in May, Rubin said. The next will be in May 2000.

This will be followed by ``subsequent visits when requested, as long as our suspicions remain,'' he added.

North Korea had been demanding a cash payment of 300 million dollars in exchange for allowing such inspections, but Rubin said that Washington had rebuffed all of those demands and had won on the matter.

``We refused repeatedly to provide the kind of direct compensation that they were seeking,'' Rubin said.

``Now that site access has been granted... we think this step can facilitate an improvement in ties,'' said Rubin.

He said that improvement in US ties with the reclusive Stalinist state would start with a modest food production program.

Thefirst project to develop would be a private pilot program to improve potato production in North Korea and institute a food-for-work scheme, Rubin said.

But he added that the agreement itself was not enough to relieve all of Washington's concerns about North Korea.

``We've no illusions about North Korea,'' Rubin said. ``That's why this agreement is structured through a step-by-step process all along.''