On Monday, Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency (KSCA), quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying that Washington had agreed to remove North Korea from the list after the negotiations in Geneva September 1-2.
But Japan's Kyodo Tsushin said that top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters in Sydney, where he is attending the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, that while Washington was prepared to do so eventually, "Their getting off that list will depend on further denuclearization."
North Korea was identified as a sponsor of terrorism in 1988, following the bombing of a South Korean airliner over the Indian Ocean the preceding year that killed all 115 people on board.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry official also said Monday that his country had agreed in Geneva to take "practical measures to neutralize the existing facilities in the DPRK within this year."
"In return, the U.S. decided to take such political and economic measures for compensation as de-listing the DPRK as a terrorism sponsor and lifting all sanctions that have been applied according to the Trading with the Enemy Act," he said.
However, the report met with immediate skepticism, notably from Japan, which said it doubted the U.S. would take such a radical step without first securing Tokyo's consent.
"I don't think they will unilaterally adopt the decision on [North Korea's] removal [from the list] without Japan's consent," Kyodo quoted an unnamed Japanese official as saying.
Tokyo said the removal of North Korea from the terrorism blacklist had to be linked to a resolution of the issue of Japanese citizens abducted in the 1970-1980s by North Korea's intelligence services.
North Korea has admitted that its secret services kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals decades ago. Five of them were eventually repatriated, while the remaining eight, according to North Korea, have since died.
Pyongyang has said the issue is closed, but Tokyo maintains that there were more than 13 cases, and continues to insist that all those abducted be returned to Japan.
Five working groups operate as part of the six-nation talks on North Korea's denuclearization. International efforts seeking a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula intensified after the North conducted nuclear tests last October.
In February, they produced a breakthrough deal when Pyongyang agreed to gradually close its nuclear facilities in exchange for economic aid and other concessions.
The U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act against North Korea and some other countries bans arms sales to countries concerned and deprives them of U.S. aid.
The terrorism blacklist, which envisions stringent sanctions, includes such countries as Cuba, Iran and Syria.
