A U.S. arms control expert says verifying North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programs will be more of a political question than a technical one.

New America Foundation analyst Jeffrey Lewis, who studies nuclear strategy and non-proliferation, said Wednesday that even if Pyongyang's declaration is accurate, the political debate within Washington is going to be extremely difficult.

Lewis said the key issue will be North Korea's declaration of its alleged uranium enrichment program.

He said access to operating records allows a comfortable degree of confidence for the plutonium-based program, but for uranium enrichment there is not the same kind of technical analysis available.

Lewis said he thinks Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will have to make what he called a "gut call" on whether the communist state is being truthful in its declaration.

Lewis made the remarks during a symposium at the Institute of Corean-American Studies in Washington.

The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute located in Washington that promotes innovative political solutions.