A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

traveling in Europe , special U.S. negotiator Robert L. Gallucci is scheduled to

 meet with South Korean and Japanese envoys Friday and Saturday to hammer out a 

proposal on sanctions , officials said . But there were fresh indications the ef

fort to punish the Pyongang regime may prove difficult . Both China and Russia r

epeated Thursday that , despite North Korea 's actions , they are not yet prepar

ed to support a resolution imposing economic sanctions . Thursday 's decision en

ds 15 months of maneuvering between the U.N.-affiliated atomic energy agency and

 North Korea . North Korea initially invited the agency 's inspectors to its Yon

gbyon reactor , then barred them entirely and finally allowed them access only t

o part of the site . As a result , while the inspectors have confirmed that Nort

h Korea is not now diverting spent fuel rods to make nuclear weapons , they have

 been unable to say whether it did so during an earlier reactor shutdown in 1989

 . That issue is important because U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that North

 Korea may have used the spent fuel to build one or possibly two nuclear weapons

 . If North Korea does have a nuclear bomb , it could threaten Japan and the res

t of Asia . At the same time , North Korea has warned repeatedly that it would r

egard the imposition of sanctions as an act of war , raising fears in some quart

ers that the North might initiate military action against South Korea . U.S. mil

itary authorities said Thursday that they have not put U.S. forces in the region

 on alert , partly to avoid any actions that might be deemed provocative . But t

he Pentagon is considering scaling back a fleet exercise to leave ships availabl

e in case of hostilities , they said . The atmosphere at the United Nations was 

increasingly tense . The Security Council is expected to meet informally to disc

uss the issue as early as Friday . But diplomats cautioned that the 15-nation bo

dy likely will not get around to firm action until late next week after members 

reach agreement on a measure that can be passed by a clear majority . It was not

 immediately clear just how much the continuing reluctance of China and Russia t

o go along with sanctions would hurt the U.S. effort in the United Nations . Rus

sian President Boris N . Yeltsin told reporters in Moscow that imposing sanction

s now would be premature . But he warned that `` if North Korea takes a stubborn

 stance , '' eventually `` we will be forced , step by step .. . to resort to in

ternational sanctions . '' In Beijing , Chinese spokesman Shen Guofang took a si

milar tack , warning that resorting to sanctions now `` might sharpen the confro

ntation . '' But neither Russia nor China indicated whether they would veto a Se

curity Council resolution imposing sanctions . A senior U.S. official traveling 

with Clinton in Rome said the president was trying to arrange a telephone conver

sation with Yeltsin to discuss the issue . The official also conceded that Washi

ngton is uncertain how quickly or how forcefully it could get the Security Counc

il to act . That `` will depend on the nature of discussions that we 're engaged

 in , '' he said . `` We simply will have to see . '' ( Optional add end ) The j

ob facing the international inspectors has been complex . The standard method by

 which the agency 's experts tell whether a country is diverting spent nuclear f

uel for weapons is to test fuel rods in a reactor . Telling whether spent fuel h

ad been diverted in previous years such as in 1989 , when analysts believe North

 Korea may have begun making a bomb is more difficult . To do so , the inspector

s must measure how fuel rods in various parts of the reactor have been used up .

 The task was complicated substantially a few weeks ago when Pyongyang announced

 to the West 's surprise that it would begin shutting down its reactor immediate

ly and start removing the spent fuel rods well ahead of schedule much faster tha

n the atomic energy agency had expected . North Korea removed the rods at such a

 rapid pace that the inspectors were unable to determine if any of the spent fue

l had been diverted during the 1989 shutdown leaving the West still uncertain wh

ether Pyongyang has a bomb .

 TOKYO At last Japan can rest assured : Hachiko 's wan-wan was not a weak one . 

This is an important cultural discovery . But to understand why , you need to un

derstand some Japanese dog lore . Between the world wars , in Tokyo 's Shibuya s

ection , there lived a golden brown Akita dog named Hachiko . The famous tale of

 her loyalty and devotion to her master is so familiar here that she is universa

lly known as `` chu-ken Hachiko , '' or `` faithful dog Hachiko . '' If a nation

al election were held to pick America 's favorite dog , the votes would probably

 be split among such diverse candidates as Lassie , Snoopy , Old Yeller and Mill

ie Bush . But in this more homogeneous nation , where everybody tends to agree w

ith everybody else on these big cultural questions , there would be no such conf

usion . Unquestionably , unequivocally , the choice for Japan 's favorite dog wo

uld be Hachiko . Hachiko died in 1935 , but millions still visit her each year ,

 in stuffed form , at the National Museum in Tokyo . There are countless books ,

 movies and CDs , plus statues and plaques commemorating the faithful dog all ov

er Japan . Because 1994 is the Year of the Dog in the Oriental calendar cycle , 

and because it is also the 60th anniversary of the most famous Hachiko memorial 

, Japan this spring has launched into a new burst of Hachiko hagiography . The b

iggest scoop yet in the media 's Hachiko Wars occurred last weekend , when the C

ulture Broadcasting Network obtained a hitherto unknown recording of Hachiko 's 

bark . It was an old LP record , broken into three pieces . But technicians at C

ulture Broadcasting repaired the disc with laser surgery so that it could be bro

adcast . After a breathless buildup , a dramatic introduction and many commercia

ls , the faithful dog 's voice was played for a national audience Saturday . Hac

hiko said , `` Wan-wan . '' `` Wan-wan '' is how the Japanese render the sound o

f a dog 's bark , rather than `` bow-wow . '' For that matter , cats in Japan sa

y `` nyaah-nyaah ' ' instead of `` meow , '' and frogs here say `` kero-kero . '

' The Japanese word for what a rooster says is `` ko-kek-ko-ko , '' which is , i

f you think about it , a lot closer to the real thing than `` cock-a-doodle-doo 

. '' Having a hefty `` wan-wan '' is considered a sign of health and good karma 

for a dog here . And to everyone 's relief , Hachiko had a healthy , hearty wan-

wan . Even a wimpy wan-wan , however , might not have diminished the national af

fection for Hachiko , because her true story crystalizes the characteristic trus

tworthiness and loyalty that dog-lovers everywhere have come to expect from Man 

's Best Friend . Hachiko , born in 1922 , was the pet of Prof. Eisaburo Ueno of 

Tokyo University , an institution roughly as prestigious here as Harvard , Yale 

and Stanford combined in the United States . Ueno lived in Shibuya , then consid

ered a suburb but now a very trendy , up-market Tokyo neighborhood . Every morni

ng , the professor would walk from his home to Shibuya Station to take the train

 to work and every morning Hachiko came with him . Each afternoon , when Ueno ca

me back home on the afternoon train , Hachiko would be waiting on the platform t

o meet him . All the other commuters and the merchants of Shibuya came to know a

nd love the dog and await her daily vigil . One day in 1925 , Ueno died suddenly

 while at work . Faithful Hachiko waited and waited at the station that night , 

but her master did not come home . So Hachiko came back to wait for her master a

gain the next afternoon . And the next , and the next . In fact , she kept comin

g back to the station , through rain , snow and the occasional earthquake , ever

y afternoon for the next 10 years . Word of this real-life wonder dog spread aro

und Japan and the world . American dog-lovers were so moved that the Los Angeles

 Friends of Animals raised funds to commission a statue honoring `` Faithful Dog

 Hachiko . '' It was erected at Shibuya Station in 1934 and become the most famo

us of many subsequent memorials to the dog . Hachiko died in 1935 and was buried

 next to her master in Tokyo 's Aoyama Cemetery . But she remained alive in dram

a , books , movies , songs and a million bedtime stories . During World War II ,

 Japan 's military dictators took an ambivalent stance toward Hachiko . They mad

e her story mandatory reading in the schools , to preach the importance of unthi

nking loyalty to one 's superiors . But they also melted down the famous statue 

to get metal for shipbuilding . After the war , the Japanese seemed determined t

o forget all their memories of the first half of this century . But the tale of 

Faithful Dog Hachiko was not forgotten . Today everybody knows her . Hachiko is 

a powerful retail agent in Japan , and the department stores here sell Hachiko c

ookies , cups , calendars , coasters , calculators , chopstick holders and other

 memorabilia . The Tokyu Department store in Shibuya offers among many other thi

ngs , a Hachiko necktie ( with `` Wan Wan ! '' printed on it ) for $ 50 and a $ 

58 wristwatch with Hachiko 's face and this message , in English , on the dial :

 `` The most heartful Japanese , A dog . He goes to station to meet with his mas

ter . '' As for the statue that became a war casualty , it was replaced in 1948 

and became nationally famous once again so much so that when Shibuya Station was

 rebuilt to accommodate increased population , the architect had to design aroun

d Hachiko 's statue so that it would not be disturbed . Today , Shibuya is a sho

pping and nightlife district , particularly popular among students . For teenage

rs all over Japan , the expression `` Hachiko mae de ! '' `` Let 's meet at Hach

iko '' heard all the time on the TV dramas , is the very essence of big-city gli

tter and sophistication . Hachiko 's brand of loyalty to a leader is an importan

t social virtue in Japan . But so is promptness . Accordingly , the Hachiko stat

ue at Shibuya Station is also famous as the locus of many lover 's quarrels . A 

couple makes plans to meet at Hachiko , and then gets into an argument on the th

eme of `` Why didn't you get here on time ? '' To avoid confrontation , the Japa

nese have placed , at Hachiko 's statue , a machine that lets you punch in on ar

rival and issues a card saying what time you arrived . That way you can prove to

 your lover that you did arrive at Shibuya Station right on time just as Faithfu

l Dog Hachiko did for all those lonely years .

 ROME President Clinton Thursday pledged to pursue U.N. sanctions against North 

Korea after a formal finding that its refusal to allow inspection of its key nuc

lear facility has made it impossible to determine if fuel was diverted to build 

a nuclear bomb . The finding was made by the International Atomic Energy Agency 

, whose Director General Hans Blix Thursday sent a letter to the U.N. secretary 

general describing as `` irreversible '' the damage done to the monitoring of No

rth Korea 's nuclear program . The IAEA report signaled an escalation in the con

flict over North Korea 's violations of international monitoring agreements duri

ng the past two years . The letter from Blix to U.N. Secretary General Boutros B

outros-Ghali automatically puts sanctions on the agenda of the Security Council 

and marks the demise of lengthy efforts by the United States to coax Pyongyang t

hrough negotiations to open its nuclear program to inspections . `` The United S

tates and the world community have worked with North Korea on this issue for fiv

e years now , '' Clinton said , `` And I believe , therefore , the question of s

anctions has to be at least taken up in the United Nations Security Council and 

discussed . '' North Korea Thursday threatened to withdraw completely from the n

uclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and warned that any U.N. sanctions would violate

 the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War and would return the Kor

ean peninsula to a state of war . North Korea also accused the United States of 

using U-2 planes to spy on its coastline in preparation of an invasion . Clinton

 said North Korea had entered international agreements providing for inspections

 of its nuclear facilities and now is unwilling to meet the obligations of its a

greements . `` Well , we 're not any of us permitted to conduct ourselves that w

ay , '' he said . North Korea , he said , has `` triggered these events , not th

e United States or anyone else . We have to go forward . '' Clinton 's somewhat 

tentative reference to `` at least '' taking up the subject was attributed to th

e difficulty the United States faces in obtaining agreement from the 15-member S

ecurity Council considering China 's historical ties to North Korea as well as R

ussia 's reluctance to move quickly on sanctions . Both China and Russia , as pe

rmanent members of the council , possess veto power over council resolutions . C

hina said Thursday that it still opposes sanctions . `` At this time we do not f

avor resorting to means that might sharpen the confrontation , '' said Chinese F

oreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang . In Moscow , President Boris Yeltsin sai

d Thursday that Russia is `` deeply concerned '' about North Korea 's nuclear pr

ogram but is not yet ready to support sanctions against its Communist neighbor .

 Meeting with South Korean President Kim Young Sam , Yeltsin reiterated his call

 for an international conference on the subject involving Russia , China , both 

Koreas , Japan , the United States and representatives of the United Nations and

 the IAEA . `` Since no decision has yet been made about an international confer

ence , '' Yeltsin said , `` it is too early to speak about sanctions . '' Noneth

eless , National Security Adviser Anthony Lake said , `` We do intend to pursue 

the issue of sanctions '' in the Security Council . A senior official said that 

U.N. . Ambassador Madeleine K. Albright has been discussing both a broad sanctio

ns resolution and sanctions that individual nations might take to compel North K

orean compliance . Asked what the administration will do if China threatens to v

eto sanctions , Lake said , `` It is premature to say what form the sanctions wo

uld take '' until consultations are completed . The White House was attempting W

ednesday night to arrange a phone call between Yeltsin and Clinton on the Korean

 issue . Clinton said he was `` encouraged '' by Yeltsin 's statements and added

 that China `` has not yet said that they would veto a sanctions resolution . ''

 He said he would discuss the North Korean issue with the French and British lea

ders , whom he will meet on his eight-day European trip , as part of the effort 

to obtain sanctions . The new flurry of diplomatic activity was triggered by the

 IAEA report and the unresolved dispute over whether material from nuclear fuel 

rods at North Korea 's Yongbyon nuclear reactor was diverted to make nuclear wea

pons . The secretive , isolated regime in Pyongyang last refueled the reactor in

 1989 without inspectors present , and Washington believes it removed nuclear ma

terials at that time . In 1992 , IAEA detected clues that North Korea had failed

 to declare some plutonium it had produced , perhaps more than a kilogram . The 

inspections of the spent fuel from the reactor at two waste sites would have giv

en the IAEA a definitive history and shown whether nuclear material had been div

erted . The current crisis over its suspected nuclear weapons program erupted 15

 months ago when the regime refused access to the sites . North Korea has recent

ly speeded up the removal of fuel rods from its key atomic reactor at Yongbyon a

nd refused to allow inspection of that removal process . The nuclear Non-Prolife

ration Treaty limiting the spread of nuclear weapons , which North Korea has sig

ned , requires such inspections . The IAEA wanted North Korea to set aside 300 f

uel rods crucial to determining how much plutonium Pyongyang produced after repl

acing some of the rods in 1989 . `` The agency has concluded that the limited op

portunity which had remained for it to select , segregate and secure fuel rods f

or later measurements in accordance with agency standards has been lost , '' Bli

x wrote in the report issued Thursday . `` Accordingly , the agency 's ability t

o ascertain , with sufficient confidence , whether nuclear material from the rea

ctor has been diverted in the past has also been lost . '' The report was based 

on observations two IAEA inspectors made early Thursday at the five-megawatt nuc

lear reactor at Yongbyon , where North Korean technicians in mid-May began a has

ty discharge of spent fuel roads . Although North Korea said it has slowed the p

ace of the fuel removal , the IAEA found that all the key parts of the reactor c

ore needed for sampling and inspection had already been unloaded without its sup

ervision . North Korea Thursday accused the IAEA of playing `` sinister '' polit

ics and sending inspectors late . Its atomic energy department asserted that the

 information the IAEA needed had been preserved . Blix said the IAEA never recei

ved an answer from North Korea to three proposals it offered Monday for ways it 

could still carry out the needed inspections . Blix will travel to New York on F

riday to brief the Security Council in what will be the first official discussio

n of the issue . U.S. officials will hold a planning meeting with Japanese and S

outh Korean officials in Washington on Saturday . `` What you are going to see n

ow is a tremendous amount of discussions within the Security Council and among o

ther countries about sanctions . A great deal of diplomatic work will have to go

 forward before we will be all able to agree that diplomatic efforts have been e

xhausted , '' a senior U.S. official said . The senior official said that now th

at the issue of noncompliance by North Korea has been joined with the IAEA lette

r to the United Nations , `` we will now proceed with real persistence , trying 

to build a consensus , work through both determined and careful diplomacy and se

e where we come out . '' North Korea disclosed Thursday that it has already warn

ed the United Nations that any move to impose sanctions would `` bring devastati

ng consequences menacing peace in Asia and the rest of the world , not to speak 

of the Korean peninsula . '' Clinton and his aides brushed off statements by the

 North Koreans that sanctions would amount to an act of war . `` This is not the

 first time that the North Koreans have made such statements , '' a senior offic

ial said . `` Neither we nor the international community , we believe , will be 

deterred or intimidated by such statements . ''

 In CLINTON-TIMES ( Broder , Times ) sub for 12th graf ( Recasting to delete int

roductory clause ) xxx self-discipline . Clinton told the earnest theologians , 

`` In all secular societies , it is recognized that very few people have the cap

acity to make a commitment of that depth and constancy . And yet , all of us kno

w that , ultimately , the meaning of our lives depend upon the constant effort t

o achieve a level of integrity between what we feel and what we think and what w

e do . '' PICK UP 13th graf : After Clinton 's xxx

 WASHINGTON A federal commission painted a grim picture of a fast-changing Ameri

can workplace Thursday , citing stagnant pay levels , a growing gap between high

-wage and low-wage workers and a sharp increase in `` working poor '' who have f

ull-time jobs but earn so little they fall below the government 's poverty line 

. In addition , the commission said , the traditional pattern of lifetime jobs w

ith a single employer is growing less common as firms increasingly hire more par

t-time and temporary workers to reduce labor costs . The report also noted that 

a higher proportion of Americans two out of three now hold jobs or are seeking t

hem , largely because almost three out of five women are now in the work force c

ompared to one out of three women in 1950 . Americans also put in longer hours p

er year than any other industrialized nation except Japan , the report said , la

rgely due to laws mandating four or five weeks of vacation in European countries

 . While the yearlong study found a decline in collective bargaining contracts a

nd a sharply lower level of strikes , it also reported a surge in government reg

ulation and litigation involving health and safety , job discrimination and othe

r workplace issues . Employment cases in the federal courts increased by 400 per

cent between 1971 and 1991 , the report said . The commission , headed by former

 Secretary of Labor John T. Dunlop , envisioned a growing role for employees in 

making decisions affecting their jobs and said available evidence suggests it co

uld improve their firms ' economic performance . Even so , the report added , su

rvey research indicates that about 50 million workers would like to take part in

 making workplace decisions but have no opportunity to do so . At most , only 5 

percent of all workplaces have effective participation systems , it estimated . 

The 163-page fact-finding report of the Commission on the Future of Worker-Manag

ement Relations was presented to Secretary of Labor Robert B . Reich and David B

arran , undersecretary of commerce , who was standing in for Secretary of Commer

ce Ron H. Brown . Dunlop said the commission hoped to start a national debate on

 the issues outlined in the initial report and then issue recommendations for ch

ange to the Clinton administration within the next six months . `` The American 

workplace has undergone extraordinary transformations over the last six decades 

and will be evolving still more dramatically in the future , but our legal frame