hankyoreh

North Korea said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with the United States at recent bilateral talks in Singapore on what political rewards will be given to it in return for a full declaration of its nuclear programs.

The North's Foreign Ministry spokesman said "A consensus was reached on the U.S. measure to make political compensation and the nuclear declaration essential for winding up the implementation of the agreement," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization have stalled over Pyongyang's hesitation to produce a full declaration of its nuclear programs. The North was supposed to receive economic aid and political concessions including removal from the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring countries in return for submitting a declaration by the end of 2007.

The communist country claims it provided a list several months ago, but the U.S. says the material received was little more than "research material" that failed to address suspicions over a possible uranium enrichment program and allegations that Pyongyang provided nuclear materials to Syria.

"The recent Singapore agreement fully proved the effectiveness of the DPRK-U.S. talks," the spokesman said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We will await the fulfillment of commitments made by those countries participating in the six-party talks," he added.

Earlier in the day, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said "important progress" has been made in the bilateral talks Tuesday with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan to nudge Pyongyang to fully account for its past nuclear activities, but more time is needed for tangible results to materialize.

Talking to reporters in Beijing, Hill said he must report the details of the talks to the secretary of state and lawmakers, who could call for a hearing.

His remarks prompted anticipation that Washington may soon begin taking steps to remove the North from the terrorism blacklist as the two sides virtually reached a deal on breaking the stalled process.

SEOUL, April 9 (Yonhap)