THE United States offered to remove North Korea from Washington’s list of states sponsoring terrorism if the communist regime dismantles its atomic weapons programme, South Korea’s nuclear envoy said yesterday.

North Korea today defiantly proclaimed itself a nuclear power and demanded all sanctions against the regime be lifted before it disarms.

Trade ministers tried to keep the Pacific Rim summit focused on its economic agenda today as sideline discussions on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme threatened to steal the show in Vietnam.

Talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program will be at a crossroads when they resume after a year's break, South Korea's top negotiator on the issue said today.

North Korea’s No. 2 leader said today any progress at revived talks on the communist nation’s nuclear program will depend on the United States, according to a news report, an indication that any breakthrough at the negotiations could be difficult.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a Chinese envoy that while Pyongyang has no immediate plan to carry out another nuclear test, whether it will do so in the future hinges on US policy toward the country, a news report said today.

Washington was just hours away from approving a new proposal to North Korea when the communist regime announced it had conducted a nuclear test, pre-empting the US push to resolve a nearly year-old deadlock at international arms talks, South Korea’s nuclear envoy said today.

South Korean officials today said they believed North Korea tested a nuclear weapon as it claimed, but determining whether the atomic explosion was successful would take a couple weeks.

The US Postal Service closed 11 Washington-area post offices today while authorities checked to see if anthrax was detected at a Navy office handling mail.

The US Postal Service closed its government mail offices in Washington while tests were carried out to determine whether anthrax was detected at the Navy site that handles letters and parcels for federal agencies.

South Korea will never tolerate its rogue neighbour’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, President Kim Dae-jung said today.