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

, the rain had been gentler and the mood grayer . An Air Force band played the s

ongs of bandleader Glenn Miller `` St. Louis Blues , '' `` String of Pearls , ''

 `` Pennsylvania 6-5000 '' that make up a sort of soundtrack of the World War II

 era . Miller , lost as he flew to France for a Christmastime concert in 1944 , 

is one of the names on the `` Wall of the Missing '' ; so is Lt. Joseph P. Kenne

dy Jr. , older brother of President Kennedy who was killed on a bombing mission 

. U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen , a bomber pilot and squadron leader in 

the war , recalled the terror of battle . `` Scared ? Of course , '' he said . `

` Anyone who wasn't was either a fool or had no imagination . ''

 PORTSMOUTH , England President Clinton said Saturday that North Korea can avoid

 international sanctions if it complies with inspections of its nuclear program 

. While standing firm on U.S. demands , he rejected as `` saber rattling '' Nort

h Korea 's claims that sanctions would be an act of war . `` I do not want a lot

 of saber rattling over this , or war talk , '' Clinton said . `` This is peace 

talk . We 're trying to enforce '' the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , which 

North Korea has signed . His comments came in a short exchange with reporters fo

llowing a meeting with British Prime Minister John Major . Clinton 's statements

 underscored U.S. determination not to back down from its demands on North Korea

 despite the warnings from Pyongyang . At the same time , the president made cle

ar that the administration is pursuing what it sees as a diplomatic not a milita

ry solution to the standoff . The United States is discussing sanctions with mem

bers of the U.N. . Security Council following certification by international ins

pectors earlier this week that North Korea is not complying with nuclear plant i

nspection regimes it had agreed to under the treaty . At the same time , a senio

r official traveling with Clinton said that China , with which North Korea retai

ns friendly relations , is continuing to try to persuade Pyongyang to comply wit

h the inspections without the threat of sanctions . China has stated its opposit

ion to sanctions , but U.S. officials say it has not yet said it would veto a sa

nctions resolution at the United Nations . The senior official said `` it would 

be both premature and possibly wrong to assume that the Chinese would veto '' a 

sanctions resolution . While they `` have been very unenthusiastic '' about such

 a move , he said , they have not said either publicly or privately that they wo

uld veto . The official said the United States would be engaged in `` a good bit

 of consulting '' to construct a sanctions response that both conveys `` the max

imum amount of leverage '' with North Korea and also has behind it a broad inter

national consensus . Clinton , in his comments , dismissed North Korea 's conten

tion that sanctions are an act of war . `` Clearly , any sanctions are not an ac

t of war and should not be seen as such , '' the president said . `` All we want

 them to do is keep their word . '' Repeating his call for North Korea to allow 

International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear reactor activity ,

 as required under the Non-Proliferation Treaty , Clinton said , `` There 's sti

ll time for North Korea to avoid sanctions actually taking effect .. . but this 

is in their hands . '' Clinton made the remarks at the British government 's cou

ntry retreat during a stop on his week-long trip to Europe for the commemoration

 of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion . The United States began consult

ations Friday with South Korea , Japan and Russia on how to retaliate for North 

Korea 's removal from its Yongbon reactor of vital evidence about its nuclear we

apons capability . The talks explored options ranging from a full cutoff of trad

e to milder measures . In a joint statement issued in Washington Saturday , the 

United States , Japan and South Korea said `` the situation demands that the int

ernational community , through the U.N. . Security Council , urgently consider a

n appropriate response , including sanctions . '' The three nations also agreed 

that `` North Korea 's actions created a serious situation on the Korean peninsu

la and a threat to the peace and stability of the Northeast Asian region as well

 as to international non-proliferation efforts . '' Assistant Secretary of State

 Robert Gallucci , who read the statement to reporters outside the State Departm

ent , refused to answer questions on it . In Rome on Friday , Clinton telephoned

 Russian President Boris Yeltsin and South Korean President Kim Young Sam , who 

was visiting Moscow . Yeltsin has proposed an international conference on the No

rth Korean crisis . The White House said Clinton told Yeltsin `` such a meeting 

might be appropriate at some point , while underscoring the need first to return

 the North Korean nuclear issue to the U.N. . Security Council . '' A senior off

icial said Secretary of State Warren Christopher will be consulting with his Rus

sian counterpart on a conference but said that the United States believes Russia

 will not block sanctions , if it comes to that , with or without a conference f

irst . Christopher and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd also had extensive

 discussions on North Korea here Saturday , the senior official said . The offic

ial said each man also talked with South Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo , 

who stopped in London en route from Moscow to U.N. headquarters in New York , as

 part of the effort to construct a sanctions package . In Seoul , government sec

urity officials met in emergency session Saturday and set up a task force to ass

ess military readiness . `` We and the United States are fully prepared and have

 enough military power ready to meet any emergencies , '' President Kim said in 

Russia , according to South Korea 's Yonhap news agency . Japanese newspapers re

ported Saturday that the Tokyo government has prepared a 10-point draft package 

of sanctions against North Korea , including bans on trade , flights and all cas

h transfers , including an estimated $ 600 million a year carried into the count

ry by Koreans from Japan . The government refused comment on the reports .

 WASHINGTON President Clinton stepped up efforts Saturday to increase diplomatic

 pressure on North Korea by calling it `` virtually imperative '' that the world

 community impose economic sanctions on Asia 's nuclear renegade . With British 

Prime Minister John Major by his side during a D-Day appearance in Portsmouth , 

England , Clinton sought to quell talk of armed conflict , saying sanctions were

 `` clearly .. . not an act of war and should not be seen as such . '' But North

 Korea 's ambassador in Beijing , Chu Chang Jun , repeated warnings Saturday tha

t `` any kind of economic sanctions '' against North Korea would be regarded as 

`` a declaration of war . '' In Washington , the United States , Japan and South

 Korea greeted new evidence of North Korea 's nuclear bomb-making activity with 

a unified call for economic sanctions . The allies ended two days of talks Satur

day warning of `` a serious situation on the North Korean Peninsula '' caused by

 Pyongyang 's efforts to thwart inspections designed to determine how plutonium 

North Korea possesses . American diplomat Robert L. Gallucci , flanked by a Sout

h Korean special ambassador and a senior official of the Japanese Foreign Minist

ry , said the three countries agreed that the U.N. . Security Council must `` ur

gently consider an appropriate response , including sanctions '' to bring North 

Korea to heel . And in Seoul , South Korean government officials met in an emerg

ency session Saturday and set up a task force to assess national readiness . Pre

sident Kim Young-sam told reporters that U.S. and South Korean forces `` are kee

ping a round-the-clock surveillance on the North 's ( military ) movements , '' 

and added that the two allies `` are fully prepared and have enough military pow

er ready to meet any emergencies . '' The latest swirl of rhetoric and diplomacy

 came two days after the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Age

ncy , Hans Blix , told members of the Security Council that North Korea had shif

ted spent fuel rods inside its principal nuclear reactor in ways that would obsc

ure any efforts to use plutonium to manufacture nuclear bombs . The disclosure d

eepened suspicions about North Korea 's nuclear intentions and added urgency to 

international efforts aimed at halting the nation 's nuclear program . Clinton a

dministration officials have said that , in light of Blix 's testimony , Pyongya

ng should allow IAEA inspectors to take samples and measurements at the nation '

s two major radioactive waste sites . That would give inspectors an alternative 

to analyzing spent fuel rods as a means of accounting for North Korea 's weapon-

grade plutonium . `` All we want them to do is keep their word , '' Clinton said

 Saturday . `` There 's still time for North Korea to avoid sanctions actually t

aking effect .. . but this is in their hands . '' Washington hopes to escalate p

ressure on North Korea gradually in an effort to persuade the Pyongyang governme

nt to let inspectors in . If Pyongyang still refuses to yield after an initial t

ightening of trade , the allies would press for a freeze on North Korea 's finan

cial transactions and , finally , for a cutoff of oil and food supplies . ( Opti

onal Add End ) Clinton administration officials acknowledged Saturday that negot

iating a sanctions strategy that would both pinch North Korea and win the suppor

t of reluctant allies has proven a difficult and delicate task . In an effort to

 win international backing for sanctions , the United States has pressed high-le

vel contacts with Russia , as well as with China . The opposition of either coun

try could veto any bid to tighten sanctions on North Korea . Both have been relu

ctant to go along with sanctions until further diplomacy has been tried .

 RICHMOND , Va. Oliver North , the ramrod Marine who emerged from the Iran-Contr

a scandal as a conservative icon , won the Virginia Republican Senate nomination

 Saturday . His victory virtually ensured an unpredictable four-way contest for 

the seat now held by embattled Democrat Charles S. Robb . At a tense and emotion

al party convention here , North comfortably defeated fellow conservative James 

C. Miller III , who had centered his campaign on the argument that North could n

ot win in the general election . North carried 55 percent of the delegates ' vot

es , to 45 percent for Miller , former director of the Office of Management and 

Budget under President Reagan . `` Bring on the liberal elites : ( President ) C

linton , Congress , ( Ted ) Koppel and above all Chuck ( Robb ) , '' North decla

red exuberantly in a speech just before the vote . `` It 's time to take a stand

 : Whose side are you on ? '' In selecting North an intense , charismatic former

 lieutenant colonel who drew both reknown and disdain for his combative 1987 tes

timony to a Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra arms-for-hosta

ges scandal the state party ensured a public split with its top-ranking federal 

official . Republican Sen. John W. Warner has condemned North as unfit to serve 

in the Senate and said he will back an independent candidacy by Republican J. Ma

rshall Coleman , a former Virginia state attorney general . Although Coleman has

 not formally declared his candidacy , he seems certain to run now that North ha

s been nominated . North 's victory also makes virtually certain a second indepe

ndent candidacy from former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder , who contends his

 arch-rival , Robb , is so politically weakened that he cannot retain the Senate

 seat for the Democrats in November . At the convention , North 's strength was 

greatest in the southern part of the state . He ran particularly well among rura

l voters and evangelical Christians , who responded enthusiastically to his Reag

anesque appeals to family values and populist attacks on Washington . North 's p

re-vote speech centered on the conservative agenda for restraining government th

e balanced budget amendment , line item veto and term limits as well as oppositi

on to abortion . ( Begin optional trim ) North has acknowledged misleading Congr

ess during the Iran-Contra affair , in which the Reagan administration traded ar

ms to Iran for the release of American hostages in Lebanon and used part of the 

proceeds to fund the Nicaraguan contras . In proceedings brought by special pros

ecutor Lawrence Walsh , North was convicted of shredding government documents , 

accepting an illegal gift of a home security system and obstructing Congress . B

ut his convictions were overturned in 1990 by a Federal appeals court , which ru

led that North 's trial was tainted by testimony he gave to Congress while under

 a guarantee of immunity for prosecution . In the aftermath , North quickly buil

t a national following in conservative circles through speeches and extensive di

rect mail appeals for a foundation and political action committee he established

 . ( End optional trim ) Although Miller and North differed little on issues , t

he race polarized their supporters . At receptions , in hallways , waiting on li

ne for credentials , the nearly 15,000 delegates here regularly combusted into s

pontaneous debates that inevitably turned on the same questions . Could North wi

n a general election ? Would Miller send to Washington the same stick-in-the-eye

 message as North ? ( Begin optional trim ) Outside the party dinner Friday nigh

t , Robert Dunn , an engineer from the Richmond suburbs , was explaining why he 

supported North when Mark Roseneker , a Miller supporter from Northern Virginia 

, challenged him . `` Why gamble for ideology when you can win the election , ''

 Roseneker asked Dunn . `` We are talking about a candidate ( North ) who reflec

ts poorly on the Republican Party . '' Dunn replied : `` I believe Oliver North 

can articulate the issues better , motivate the people better , give them a bett

er direction . I believe we need somebody who can really send a message very cle

arly not muddled like it has been for so long . '' ( End optional trim ) In the 

weeks leading up to the vote , North had endured a steady barrage of criticism f

rom fellow conservatives and former colleagues , ranging from Reagan to former c

hairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell , who had raised questions abo

ut his character and veracity . The Democrats will select their nominee in a Jun

e 14 primary . Robb , who has been battered by revelations of marital infidelity

 , faces conservative state Sen. Virgil H. Goode Jr. , Richmond lawyer Sylvia Cl

ute and Nancy Spannaus , a supporter of political extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche J

r. . Polls have shown Robb with a substantial lead , but Goode has been pounding

 Robb with mailings and television advertisements citing memos from the senator 

's own staff detailing allegations that he had committed adultery ; Goode 's tel

evision ads accuses Robb of associating with `` prostitutes and drug criminals .

 '' Wilder and Coleman have until 7 p.m. on June 14 , when the polls close in th

e Democratic primary , to file the relatively modest 15,000 signatures needed to

 launch an independent campaign . If the four-way race materializes , Virginia v

oters will face a tough choice . Keeping track of the grudges alone is a formida

ble task . Robb and Wilder have a long-standing feud ; Coleman lost the 1981 gub

ernatorial race to Robb , and a second round to Wilder in 1989 . The religious c

onservatives fervent for North still bristle at Coleman for abandoning his oppos

ition to abortion in the 1989 race . The political calculations are equally intr

icate . Paradoxically , the proliferation of candidates may actually help all of

 the contenders each of whom , for different reasons , would likely have difficu

lty attracting an absolute majority of votes . In a race with four candidates , 

though , the winner may need only about 40 percent of the vote a prospect that h

elps the candidate with the strongest base of committed supporters . North has s

uch a base among evangelical Christians and other ideological conservatives , Wi

lder among African-Americans ( who constitute between 15-20 percent of the state

wide vote in a general election ) ; Robb has already won endorsements from the i

nstitutional ligaments of the Democratic Party organized labor , the teachers ' 

union , and abortion rights groups . To the extent Coleman can match such assets

 , it will be through what is expected to be the vigorous support of Warner , wh

o remains extremely popular in the state .

 CAMBRIDGE , England When the speeches were over Saturday at the Cambridge Ameri

can Cemetery and Memorial , a handful of those who rushed forward were not tryin

g to shake President Clinton 's hand but were trying to get the autograph of the

 aging New York veteran who had formally introduced him during the program . Ed 

MacLean , 72 , a retired business executive from Valley Stream , N.Y. , had remi

nisced about his days as a 22-year-old fighter pilot flying P-47 Thunderbolts in

 the skies over Germany 97 treacherous missions in all . During the D-Day invasi

on he had shepherded gliders to Normandy ; later he was part of the `` flying ar

tillery '' that supported Gen. George Patton 's third Army drive into France . `

` Back then , we were a bunch of scared kids who had a job to do , and those who

 died over here were brave individuals doing a tough job under hazardous conditi

ons , '' the portly , balding man told the audience as Clinton looked on . MacLe

an added that the harsh memories of war `` survive , no matter how deeply buried

 , and sometimes , like today , they emerge . '' In introducing the president , 

he said the nation was `` blessed with a commander-in-chief who knows that the m

ilitary 's ability to meet its commitments still depends on the people who we ho

nor here today . '' The White House asked World War II veterans to introduce Cli

nton at each of three major speeches he is giving at U.S. cemeteries during a Eu

ropean tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day . MacLean , president of

 the 9th Army Air Force Veterans Association and a recipient of the Distinguishe

d Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 16 clusters , was chosen for Saturday 's s

ervice honoring the crews that flew from bases in England . MacLean , whose figh

ter often escorted lumbering B-17s on bombing runs , was introduced by Treasury 

Secretary Lloyd Bentsen , himself a bomber pilot during the war . `` Ed , on beh

alf of every bomber pilot who enjoyed the protection of our fighter planes , tha

nk you , '' Bentsen told MacLean . Later , as Scottish pipers played `` Amazing 

Grace , '' tears rolled down MacLean 's cheeks ; his wife , Genevieve , patted h

is arm . `` It 's very sad , '' he said later .

 RICHMOND , Va. Oliver L. North won the Republican nomination for the Senate her

e Saturday and immediately set the stage for a four-man campaign for the seat of

 the embattled Democratic incumbent , Charles S. Robb . North defeated James C. 

Miller III , a former Reagan administration budget director , with more than 55 

percent of the vote at a noisy but generally orderly party convention at the Ric

hmond Coliseum . The success of the hard-line conservative figure from the Iran-

Contra affair was expected to draw two more candidates into the race as independ

ents , Democratic former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and Republican former state Atto

rney General Marshall Coleman . Both already are circulating petitions that woul

d qualify them for the ballot by the deadline June 14 , the same day Robb is exp

ected to win renomination in a Democratic primary . The Senate election in Virgi

nia has been taking on added importance in the past few weeks as political profe

ssionals in both parties have come to the view that there is a realistic chance 

the Republicans could win the seven seats they need to control the Senate in the

 next two years of President Clinton 's term . Conceding his loss , Miller offer

ed a quick , if perfunctory , promise to put the bitter contest for the nominati

on into the past . `` It is important , ladies and gentlemen , '' he told more t

han 13,000 delegates , `` that we now unite . We will get rid of Chuck Robb and 

put Bill Clinton on the run . '' Gov. George Allen , who had remained neutral in

 the North-Miller competition , also joined the call for Republican unity . `` I

 'll be in the trenches with you , '' he declared . But many of the Miller deleg

ates pointedly avoided joining the demonstration of unity and quickly left the h

all suggesting that they have not changed their view that North 's 1987 convicti

on on three felony counts , later reversed on appeal , makes too much political 

baggage for him to carry against Robb . North was characteristically defiant in 

victory , saying his success would send a message to the politicians in Washingt

on that : `` This is our government , they stole it , and we 're coming to take 

it back . '' Deriding the `` Washington crowd '' with his usual vehemence , he t

old cheering admirers , `` They 'll never see Ollie North crawl up Capitol Hill 

to kiss their big , fat rings . '' North 's convention victory fulfilled almost 

precisely his campaign 's predictions . He won seven of Virginia 's 11 congressi

onal districts and held his losses in strong Miller areas to minimal figures . I

n the 11th District in the Washington suburbs , for example , Miller won only by

 758-708 . Statewide , it was North 4,858 , Miller 3,724 . The post-convention r

hetoric did little to paper over the basic schism in the party over which Republ

ican would have the best chance of defeating Robb , whose negatives in opinion p

olls are as high as North 's because of Robb 's personal indiscretions when he w

as governor of the state . Miller originally had been given little or no chance