DPRK and US near nuclear agreement

The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are near an agreement to save a crumbling nuclear deal, news reports said on Friday, while the Republic of Korea's (ROK) foreign minister said details of a compromise may soon be announced.

America's ABC news quoted senior US officials as saying the DPRK may be preparing for another nuclear test after it was seen moving cables and tunnelling at the site of its only previous test in October 2006.

Chosun Ilbo, a daily newspaper in the ROK on Friday quoted government sources as saying the DPRK and the United States were near an agreement on verifying Pyongyang's account of its nuclear program that would prompt Washington to remove it from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.