North Korea says it will not shut down its nuclear programs as agreed, until the United States releases millions of dollars frozen in a Macau bank. U.S. officials say that decision is up to Macau. The comments come ahead of Monday's resumption of six-nation talks in Beijing on North Korean nuclear disarmament. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from our Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

The United States says the end of a U.S. investigation into North Korean banking activities clears the way for progress on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog says North Korean officials have told him they remain fully committed to a nuclear-disarmament deal.

The chief U.N. nuclear negotiator said Wednesday after talks in Pyongyang that North Korea was still committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is in China for talks expected to focus on how to hold North Korea to a nuclear disarmament deal reached in February.

A U.S. State Department spokesman says North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Kwan and his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, are expected to meet in New York later this week.

A South Korean news agency says North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator will visit the United States next week for follow-up talks on a recent disarmament deal.

For the most part, international experts are praising the agreement reached in Beijing this week as a good first step toward ending North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs. It is the next, very daunting steps in the process that cause them concern.

International negotiators say North Korea has agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its nuclear program in return for fuel aid.

North Korea has agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its nuclear program in return for fuel aid from its negotiating partners.

An apparent last-minute softening of North Korea's position at the six-party nuclear talks has allowed the negotiations to continue into Tuesday. Earlier, delegates had said Monday was the deadline for North Korea to make a decision.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, peace in the Middle East and nuclear disarmament are among his top priorities. He also says strong partnership between the U.N. and the United States is important.