The main US nuclear envoy said in South Korea today that Washington believes a financial dispute that has prevented North Korea’s disarmament is now resolved.

North Korea's number two leader reiterated today his country's pledge to abandon its nuclear weapons, as the impoverished nation sought a resumption of aid at its first high-level talks with South Korea since conducting an atomic test.

The two Koreas agreed to resume stalled high-level talks later this month, officials said today, in the first concrete sign of easing tensions on the divided peninsula after the North signed a breakthrough disarmament agreement.

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.

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 top US general on the Korean Peninsula said today he believes North Korea might conduct another nuclear test in the future.

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.

A jittery world lashed out at North Korea today with fresh threats of harsh sanctions, a day after its nuclear test.

SOUTH Korea and China have agreed to cooperate to prevent a possible nuclear test by North Korea amid increasing reports citing suspicious activity in the communist nation.

South Korea today urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, saying it would further isolate the communist regime, while countries launched new efforts to persuade the North to resume stalled disarmament talks.

North Korea today renewed its commitment to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, while at the same time vowing to strengthen its stockpile of atomic weapons to counter what it called extreme US hostility.

North Korea would consider dismantling its nuclear weapons programme if the communist country’s relations with the US, Japan and South Korea improved, China’s envoy to Seoul said today.

Negotiators at talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions set to work today on the contentious details of how the North will disarm and what it will get in exchange.

Reaction to North Korea’s demand for civilian reactors before dismantling its nuclear programme ranged from harsh to calm today, though none of the parties to international talks said they expected the negotiating process to break down.

North Korean disarmament talks were extended until at least tomorrow as envoys struggled to reach an agreement over a Chinese proposal that would let Pyongyang keep its civilian nuclear power programme after it disarms.

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.

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.

Negotiators from Japan, South Korea and the US met today to co-ordinate strategy for talks this month aimed at pressuring North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, after the North’s leader said a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula was his father’s dying wish.

North Korea says it has taken steps that could allow it to obtain more plutonium for atomic bombs and that it will bolster its arsenal, the country’s latest provocation amid deadlocked talks over its nuclear programme.

A senior Chinese official planned to begin three days of talks in South Korea today as part of efforts to restart stalled six-party negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes.

Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul over the weekend to discuss resuming nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea after the communist country’s leader hinted at a possible compromise, officials said today.

South Korea told US officials it has no plans to launch “large-scale” economic co-operation with North Korea before the dispute over the communist state’s nuclear weapons programmes is resolved, the country’s foreign minister said today.