"I would say it's definitely not imminent. We need to have that declaration before we can talk about any next steps," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. "The ball is in North Korea's court right now."

Pyongyang had been due to disable fully disclose its nuclear programs by December 31 as part of a February 2007 deal reached through six-country talks grouping China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russia and the United States.

In response, Washington and its diplomatic partners were to supply one million tons of fuel oil or equivalent energy aid and take steps to bring the Stalinist regime into the international community.

The United States was also to start the process of removing the North from its terrorism list, which blocks access to bilateral economic aid and loans from international financial institutions.

"The agreement that we made with them is that there would be actions for actions," said Perino. "Therefore, there's not any movement on any of the other parts of the agreement."

Removing North Korea, added to the list after the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air Lines flight, is premature "to say the least," she said one day after a top US official implied that Pyongyang had met the criteria for removal.

The State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, Dell Dailey, told a group of reporters on Tuesday that North Korea appeared to have met the requirements for being taken off the list, the Washington Post reported.

"You go back six months, you see if there's been any visible support or material support. We don't see that with North Korea. You also ask them to give an affirmation that they will not do things in the future," the Post cited him as saying. "It appears that North Korea has complied with those criteria."

The US State Department, which also includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria on the list, says that North Korea is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the 1987 bombing.

But Japanese officials and groups have urged Washington not to take Pyongyang off the list until it provides a full accounting of abductions of Japanese citizens, purportedly to train its spies.

Pyongyang media in recent days has criticized Washington for failing to start the quid-pro-quo process.

Earlier Wednesday, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said North Korea was willing to become nuclear-free if the United States honored its commitments in return.

The comments in the Choson Sinbo, published in Japan by a pro-Pyongyang organization, were the latest in a series accusing Washington of failing to live up to its commitments under a six-nation disarmament pact.

"The DPRK (North Korea) has a firm resolution to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. The key is whether the US and other parties are implementing their duties," said the website of the paper, which normally reflects official thinking.

"The DPRK will continue to fulfill what it is supposed to do, in accordance with the action-for-action principle, when the US carries out its duty."

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