Sung Kim, director of the office of Korean affairs at the State Department, had "very detailed and substantive discussions" with his counterpart from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in New York on Friday, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Monday.

"Sung Kim last week had very detailed and substantive discussions with his North Korean counterpart, on the subject of verification," Wood said.

"We've had, periodically, discussions with the North Koreans on this subject, and undoubtedly there will be other discussions," Wood added, without giving further details.

The United States has said it is not going to remove the DPRK from a terror list due to a lack of a strong inspection regime of its nuclear program.

Under an agreement reached at the six-party talks in Beijing in February last year, the DPRK agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and declare all its nuclear programs and facilities by the end of 2007, in exchange for diplomatic and economic incentives.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2008)