"I don't want to get into some of the specific things that we're prepared to do," Hill said. "Obviously we had a considerable discussion about these, but I need to consult with my government and also among the six parties before I consult with the press on that." Hill's comments contradict speculation that an agreement has been reached to strike North Korea from the terrorism list before the end of the year.

Hill was in Sydney, Australia to attend the APEC meeting and meet with Foreign Minister Song Min-soon. Hill was quoted as saying that Washington's position would become more clear according to the progress Pyongyang makes towards denuclearization. "Washington has been mulling the delisting since February" when Pyongyang signed the six-nation denuclearization accord," Hill said.

Following working-group meetings on the normalization of Pyongyang-Washington ties in Geneva on Saturday and Sunday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry announced, "We reached an agreement on working-level measures to disable our existing nuclear facilities before the end of the year. The U.S. agreed to political and economic compensation, including removing our country from the list of states sponsoring terrorism."

A diplomatic source said, "The North Korean announcement makes it clear that Pyongyang will disable its nuclear facilities before the end of the year, but doesn't state that the delisting will be done within the same time frame. This suggests that if Pyongyang implements its denuclearization measures clearly, the U.S. will take a clear position soon on when to remove it from the list."

With discussions on normalizing Washington-Pyongyang relations gaining speed, the second-round of working-group meetings on normalizing Pyongyang-Tokyo ties -- the last of five working groups under the February 13 agreement -- will be held in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, on Wednesday and Thursday.

It remains to be seen whether Japan and North Korea can improve their ties by showing more flexibility on the issue of Japanese citizens abducted to the North in the 1970s and 80s. In the first round of their talks in Vietnam in March, the delegates failed to make any substantial headway and parted ways after just two days. But this time the prospects appear brighter and the atmosphere looks more favorable, South Korean government officials said.

The U.S. is linking the abductions issue with its normalization of relations with North Korea, including removing it from the terrorism list. That suggests North Korea has little choice but to take a more flexible stance on the abductions issue if it wants to make progress in its talks with the U.S. as well.

Japan will very likely take a forward-looking posture this time to avoid diplomatic isolation at the six-party talks, some experts say. On Aug. 28, new Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said his country was considering giving humanitarian aid to North Korean victims of the recent devastating floods.

Diplomats from Pyongyang and Tokyo held a preliminary meeting in Dalian in China's Liaoning Province on Aug. 25 and 26, where they agreed on dates and a venue for the working-group meetings. Experts said the upcoming talks should produce results if Pyongyang takes a flexible stance towards a new investigation of the abductions or if it agrees to at least put the issue continuously on the agenda. "It will also be hard for Japan to maintain its current stance," a South Korean government official said. "We expect them to produce positive results from their upcoming talks."

(englishnews@chosun.com )