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The official said the “ideas” had been discussed in a trilateral meeting between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Vietnam. "They include ideas proposed officially for the first time to the North, which is why the North said it will review them thoroughly,” he said. They reportedly include declaring the official end of the Korean War besides supplies of energy and economic aid and normalization of ties between Washington and Pyongyang to guarantee regime safety in the North.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, left, and South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo, right, speak to journalists after meeting at a restaurant in Beijing on Thursday./AP

The two nuclear negotiators agreed that the freeze of North Korean accounts in Banco Delta Asia, the greatest issue of concern to the North, will be addressed by a working group independently of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear problems. The working group, to be chaired by the U.S. Treasury Department, could meet even before the six-party talks resume. "North Korea has not trusted the U.S. so far, and the talks over the last several days won't change that and make Pyongyang believe that Washington fundamentally changed in its policy toward Pyongyang,” the official said. "But I think North Korea may have felt that Washington's policy toward it took a positive turn and that the U.S. is sincere about talking to it and more willing to resolve the situation,” he said.

Asked about a date for the talks, the official said, "If North Korea does not respond to these ideas proposed by the U.S. within a week, we can’t expect the six-party talks this year because of Christmas." On leaving Beijing, the U.S. delegation head Christopher Hill said, "We are hopeful that we can still do this in December. The problem is not setting a date. We can set a date any day… The problem is getting to the talks and making progress.”

Hill reportedly stressed that Pyongyang will enjoy benefits from permanently dismantling all of its nuclear program but face sanctions if it does not. "You could say that Hill proposed the idea of Pyongyang making a choice between steak and hammer, which is more extreme than between carrot and the stick,” a diplomatic source in Seoul said.

North Korean top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan told reporters, "Denuclearization is one of the teachings former leader Kim Il-sung left." But after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Chung Yung-woo in Beijing, he added, “About giving up nuclear weapons, we cannot unilaterally give them up."

(englishnews@chosun.com )