NKorea says progress on nuke deal may be delayed

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea said Friday it would not push ahead with an international deal to scrap its nuclear programme until negotiating partners fulfil their side of the bargain.

The foreign ministry statement appeared to cast doubt on an early resumption of six-party talks aimed at moving on to the final stage of the agreement.

It came only a week after the communist state dramatically blew up the cooling tower at its plutonium-producing Yongbyon atomic complex in front of foreign TV cameras.

"This showed our commitment to denuclearisation," a ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency.

"In response to our efforts, other participants in six-party talks should sincerely carry out their obligations."

The timeframe for the current phase of the deal was set out in an agreement reached last October 3 between the two Koreas, the United States, Japan , China and Russia .

"Only when other participants meet their own obligations completely can it be said that the October 3 agreement is implemented," said the spokesman.

"Only after that will we be able to move on to the next stage of the talks."

Under the current phase the North should get energy aid equivalent to one million tons of fuel oil and the lifting of some US sanctions, in return for disabling Yongbyon and documenting its nuclear activities.

Last week the North -- which tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006 -- handed over the long-awaited nuclear declaration to China, the host of the six-party talks.

The spokesman described it as "complete and correct" and said his country was willing to cooperate in verifying it.

"However, we stick to the principled basic position that the principle of action for action must be respected," he said.

He complained that while 80 percent of the Yongbyon facility has been disabled, only 40 percent of the promised energy aid has been delivered.

The spokesman also complained that Washington's decision to drop the North from a terrorism blacklist has not yet taken effect "due to procedural reasons."

After the declaration was handed over, US President George W. Bush notified Congress of his plan to drop the North from a list of state sponsors of terrorism .

But the move cannot take effect until a 45-day review period has passed.

Bush also announced he was lifting some sanctions under the Trading With The Enemy Act but the spokesman complained that the measures he took were "not complete."

The North has repeatedly complained about the slow arrival of energy aid, about half of which will be actual oil. The rest will be energy aid of equivalent value, such as material to repair decrepit power stations.

Negotiating partners have acknowledged delays but say there are problems such as limited oil storage facilities. Japan refuses to contribute to the aid until the North accounts fully for Japanese it kidnapped during the Cold War era.