The U.S. envoy in charge of seeking a diplomatic end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programs says Pyongyang has much more to do before punitive United Nations sanctions are lifted. As a U.S. team begins the process of disabling the North's main nuclear complex, the governments involved in the nuclear negotiations are now preparing to receive a promised list of Pyongyang's nuclear programs and facilities.

A team of American nuclear experts has arrived in North Korea to begin disabling the country's main nuclear facility. North Korea appears on track to keep its promise to divulge and disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of the year.

South Korea hopes talks can be started to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War when Pyongyang's denuclearization has reached a 'proper stage,' Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said on Thursday.

North Korea agreed at six-nation talks Tuesday to receive aid in equipment, in place of half of the fuel aid pledged to the country for disabling its nuclear reactor, Seoul's Yonhap agency said.

Delegates from six nations are mapping out the specifics of sending energy aid to North Korea as it ends its nuclear weapons programs. Negotiators are seeking the right timing and blend of energy assistance to ensure North Korea adheres to its promises. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from the site of the talks, Panmunjom, in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.

Senior South Korean officials say United States forces would likely remain in the country even if a potential peace agreement formally ending the 1950's Korean war is concluded. A treaty, along with the elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons, are key goals of the ongoing six-nation negotiations in Northeast Asia.

A top U.S. diplomat says international security efforts in northeast Asia are on the right path, but still have a long way to go.

North Korea could start disabling plants that make weapons-grade plutonium as early as next week as part of a disarmament-for-aid deal the North has struck with regional powers, a South Korean news report said.

Shipments of thousands of tons of food widely wanted in impoverished North Korea were delayed because of a railway dispute between the regime and Chinese train companies.

North Korea wants to set better relationships with the U.S. that is why it hurries up to resolve the international standoff over its nuclear weapons program, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday.

A second group of U.S. officials and nuclear experts is expected to arrive in North Korea on Saturday to continue efforts to disable nuclear facilities, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The United States' east Asian negotiator says he is confident that North Korea's nuclear program will be dismantled by the beginning of next year.