hankyoreh

The United States has promised to lift financial sanctions imposed on North Korea within 30 days in return for the North taking the first steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons programs within 60 days, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper based in Japan said Sunday.

The U.S. made the agreement at the end of the one-on-one talks with North Korea in Berlin last month, according to the Choson Sinbo, a Korean-language newspaper published by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

The report comes as nuclear envoys to the six-nation talks are haggling over a Chinese draft accord in Beijing.

Quoting a source, the paper said, "The issue (of energy aid) is a matter to be solved, not numerically but politically. The main goal of North Korea is to determine whether the U.S. has the will to change its policy toward North Korea through energy aid."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan held rare direct talks in Berlin on Jan. 16-18, paving the way for the resumption of the six-nation talks over the North's nuclear weapons program.

The Choson Sinbo also claimed that during the Berlin talks, the U.S. and the North agreed to discuss ways of removing the communist country from a list of terrorism-sponsoring countries and easing a trade embargo at working-level negotiations in a follow-up to the six-party talks.

The six-party talks -- involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- are under way in Beijing, but North Korea's "excessive demand" for large amounts of energy assistance is a stumbling block to any kind of agreement, according to Japan's top negotiator Kenichiro Sasae.

In September 2005, North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear program in return for security guarantees and aid in the areas of energy, trade and investment.

In late 2005, however, the U.S. cut off Macau-based Banco Delta Asia's access to the U.S. financial system, alleging that North Korea used the bank to engage in illicit financial activities such as money laundering and counterfeiting U.S. dollars.

In retaliation, North Korea boycotted the six-party talks until December, suggesting that the U.S. should discuss ways to lift the sanctions outside the six-party talks.

U.S. Treasury Department officials discussed the issue with North Korean officials in Beijing last month. The outcome of the talks has yet to be disclosed, but U.S. officials hinted that the talks might help foster a good mood for the six-nation talks. ssj@yna.co.kr

Seoul, Feb. 11 (Yonhap News)