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(LEAD) U.S. not set to reward N. Korea for nuclear declaration: envoy
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- The United States does not seem to be ready to provide North Korea with what the communist nation wants in return for its next moves toward denuclearization, a South Korean envoy said Sunday.
Kim Sook, Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, said Pyongyang will not turn in the long-overdue declaration until Washington is all set to take steps to remove the North from the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.
"In my view, the U.S. needs more time, while North Korea's preparations are almost done," he told a press briefing.
Kim returned Saturday from his trip to Moscow and Beijing, where he respectively met with his North Korean and American counterparts -- Kim Kye-gwan and Christopher Hill.
He was also briefed on the results of the two-day talks between the U.S. and North Korean envoys in the Chinese capital aimed at resolving the declaration issue.
The Seoul envoy said that the final stage of consultations on Pyongyang's promised declaration of its nuclear holdings is under way.
North Korea was supposed to have turned in the declaration by the end of last year but failed to meet the deadline.
The U.S. has promised to take initial steps to remove the North from the terror list as soon as it submits a "complete and correct" declaration, which officials in Washington view as a litmus test for Pyongyang's will to abandon its nuclear program.
Kim said that the upcoming measures by North Korea and the U.S. will be taken on an "action-for-action" basis under the six-party deal signed last year.
But the delisting requires approval from the Congress, and some U.S. lawmakers express worries that the declaration might not be complete.
Kim emphasized that there is no major setback despite some delays in the process, saying it is taking more time than expected to review more than 18,000 pages of operational records from the North's Yongbyon nuclear facilities that were handed over to Washington in May.
He also said the resumption of the six-way talks on the nuclear issue will be possible before the end of this month.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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