In Beijing, negotiators are trying to cobble together an action plan detailing steps North Korea should take to disable its nuclear facilities. The six-nation nuclear talks are in their second day in the Chinese capital.

China has completed the delivery of 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil to North Korea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Fuel supplies were a condition for Pyongyang to begin implementing measures as part of the first stage of its denuclearization.

Six nations engaged in protracted talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament gathered for a new round of negotiations in the Chinese capital Thursday after a six-month break.

Diplomats involved in the six-nation North Korean nuclear talks have begun arriving in Beijing to hold what they say is a critical round of negotiations. The lead U.S. negotiator on the North Korea nuclear issue, Christopher Hill, calls this week's round of talks a "very important stage" in the goal of eliminating North Korea's nuclear programs by the end of the year.

North Korea says flooding caused by last week's typhoon, Wipha, has destroyed 14,000 homes and 109,000 hectares of crops.

North Korea has denied allegations that it may be helping Syria to develop a nuclear-weapons facility. North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that suspicions raised by Washington and U.S. media reports are part of an "unskillful conspiracy."

China has completed the first fuel oil shipment to North Korea as part of a package of economic incentives in exchange for Pyongyang's denuclearization, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The next round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program will not be held on September 19, and could be postponed until October, Japan's Kyodo news agency said Monday.

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.

Coming talks with North Korea will focus on bringing permanent peace to the divided peninsula, rather than the standoff over the North's nuclear programs, the president of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday.

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.

A team of nuclear experts from the United States, China and Russia will go to North Korea next week to survey nuclear facilities that would be disabled if Pyongyang eventually agrees to abandon its nuclear weapons programs.