BEIJING, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea urged the United States to end its hostile policies and to work to build trust between the countries, in a commentary published in the ruling Workers' Party newspaper on Monday.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused Washington of reversing the trend of disarmament and detente by developing high-tech weapons and deploying troops around the Korean peninsula.

"What is essential for relations between the DPRK [the North's official name] and the United States is building bilateral confidence. This is made more urgent by the present circumstances," the commentary said.

The United States recently removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist. In response, the North said it would restart work to disable its nuclear facilities.

Last Thursday, the ruling party's paper published a commentary saying Pyongyang could sever all relations with South Korea unless President Lee Myung-bak ends his "confrontational" policies.

South Korean analysts interpreted the threat as an attempt to create a rift between Seoul and Washington, and boost Pyongyang's bargaining position in international talks on its denuclearization.

Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Saturday that diplomats at all North Korean embassies had been told to wait for an important message from the government, believed to be related to dictator Kim Jong-il's state of health.

However, the South Korean Unification Ministry said on Monday it had no information confirming the report.