The US is working with North Korea to remove it from Washington’s blacklist of states sponsoring terrorism as American experts prepare to start disabling the Communist nation’s nuclear reactor, a top US diplomat said today.

NORTH Korea remains on a list of states that sponsor terrorism, a senior US diplomat said yesterday.

US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill ended a surprise trip to North Korea today, amid optimism that the visit heralded renewed progress in international efforts to denuclearise the communist country.

A top US nuclear envoy headed today to North Korea in a surprise trip ahead of the expected resumption of international talks on halting the communist nation’s nuclear weapons programme, US and Japanese officials said.

Time is running out for North Korea to take initial steps toward dismantling its nuclear programme, a US envoy warned today.

North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator told US envoys today that his government would immediately invite UN nuclear inspectors into the country if £12.7m (€18.6m) in disputed funds were released.

Talks on disarming North Korea’s nuclear programme broke down in Beijing today with the country’s chief nuclear envoy leaving after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank.

International talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme stalled again today.

A fresh round of international nuclear talks opened today with negotiators inching closer toward setting a timetable for North Korea’s disarmament after the biggest obstacle hindering discussions was removed – £13m (€19m) in frozen North Korean funds.

Envoys met in China today to hammer out a detailed schedule for dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programmes amid efforts to resolve a sticking point over North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank.

North Korea has stated to delegates at international nuclear talks on Saturday that it is preparing to shut its nuclear facility.

The chief UN nuclear negotiator was unable to meet North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator today due to scheduling problems.

More than 50 years after the end of the Korean War, the United States and North Korea opened historic talks on steps to establish diplomatic relations following Pyongyang’s agreement to dismantle its nuclear programme.

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator plans to visit the United States within days for follow-up talks on a recent disarmament deal, South Korean news reports said today.

Envoys to international talks seeking to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program raised objections today to a Chinese draft proposal on initial steps for disarming Pyongyang, the main US delegate said, an indication of obstacles to an imminent breakthrough.

North Korea expressed its readiness today to discuss initial steps of its nuclear disarmament, raising hopes for the first tangible progress at talks on Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme in more than three years.

North Korea has been showing “flexibility” in meetings on its nuclear programme, South Korea’s foreign minister said today.

North Korea said it reached an unspecified agreement with the US this week on its nuclear weapons programme, and America’s top nuclear envoy expressed optimism Friday that progress could be made when wider arms talks reconvene.

North Korea said today it had reached an agreement with the US during talks with Washington’s main nuclear envoy this week in Germany.

The US and North Korea are focusing on ways to resume international nuclear disarmament talks in their discussions in Germany, not on US financial restrictions levelled at Pyongyang, the state department said today.

The chief US negotiator at six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program said today he was hopeful the talks can resume by the end of this month, and described as “useful” a meeting with his North Korean counterpart.

The chief US negotiator at international talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme plans to meet his North Korean counterpart in Germany today for a second day of talks aimed at ending an international standoff.

The first talks on North Korea's nuclear programme since the communist nation tested an atomic device ended without an agreement on disarmament or a date for further negotiations.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said today that sanctions alone would not resolve the stand-off over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency today called for “incentives” for North Korea to return to the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions, saying sanctions alone would not resolve security issues in the region.

US and North Korean envoys today ended talks failing to reach an agreement on when to resume six-nation talks on dismantling Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told China’s president he is committed to a peaceful resolution of the stand-off over the North’s nuclear ambitions as he wrapped up a week-long, secrecy-shrouded trip to his last major ally.

The chief US envoy to talks on ending North Korea’s atomic weapons programme met today with his North Korean counterpart seeking to break a stalemate, and said afterward that the negotiations are still “in business".

North Korea today insisted it has a right to a peaceful nuclear programme, dimming prospects for progress at international talks on ending the communist nation’s atomic weapons programme.

The chief US envoy to talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme said today delegates would start work on a joint statement of principles, taking the negotiations into a “new stage”, but he said progress was slow and there was unlikely to be any agreement this weekend.

North Korea’s envoy to international disarmament talks said today that his country was ready to work on eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula, while the US reassured the communist nation that it had no intention of invading to end the nuclear stand-off.

North Korea today said it would rejoin international nuclear arms talks, ending a more-than-year-long boycott, after North Korean and US envoys held a previously unannounced meeting in Beijing.

North Korea could return to six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons programs within weeks, a US Congressional delegation said today after a trip to the communist state.

North Korea could rejoin six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons programmes within weeks, a US Congressional delegation said today after a trip to the communist state.

After four days, a meeting of six nations discussing the dispute over North Korea’s nuclear program adjourned today with China’s foreign minister saying that “various serious differences” remained before the stand-off could be resolved.

Top US and North Korean negotiators met behind closed doors for an hour in Beijing today, and South Korea offered Pyongyang aid if it gives up its nuclear programme.

North Korea and the United States will hold direct talks today on the sidelines of a six-country meeting about the North’s nuclear programme, the Chinese government said.