The chief U.S. envoy to the negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear program says Friday the first ministerial-level meeting of the six-party talks could occur pretty soon. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill goes to Beijing for another envoy-level session next week.

United States nuclear experts will begin Tuesday five days of inspections in North Korea and prepare recommendations for the country's denuclearization, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported.

North Korea says a planned joint military exercise between U.S. and South Korean forces late this month could derail a deal to end Pyongyang's nuclear program.

North Korea is ready to disable its nuclear facilities before receiving aid pledged as part of international efforts to denuclearize the country, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said Wednesday.

Russia is calling for constructive work at the upcoming round of talks on North Korea's nuclear program, without dramatizing potential difficulties, a senior diplomat said Monday.

Pyongyang received Saturday the first 6,200 metric tons of fuel oil from Seoul as part of an international denuclearization deal, the Xinhua news agency said referring to a source in the South Korean Unification Ministry.

South Korea will send the first shipment of fuel oil to North Korea July 12, a Unification Ministry spokesman said Friday. It said the shipment would be 6,200 tons.

North Korea is considering to shut down its main nuclear reactor as soon as it receives an initial shipment of energy aid.

North Korea is ready to shut down its nuclear reactor once it receives the first shipment of fuel oil to operate its heat and electric power plants, the Yonhap news agency said Thursday, citing a government source.

South Korea will begin delivering fuel oil to North Korea next week now that Pyongyang has pledged to shut down its nuclear reactor, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

The senior U.S. diplomat in charge of negotiating an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programs is in the North Korean capital. The surprise visit comes just days before United Nations nuclear inspectors are expected in the North to plan the shutdown of the country's main reactor.

South Korea's foreign minister said Tuesday North Korea's $25 million unfrozen from a Macao bank had been transferred home after a lengthy delay, clearing the way for Pyongyang to close a nuclear reactor.