NKorea nuclear declaration imminent: Rice
Updated
The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, says North Korea will issue a declaration of all its nuclear weapons programs soon.
The country has already missed a deadline to do so under a six-party deal.
Dr Rice's prediction came the same day as US envoy Christopher Hill prepared to leave for talks with Japanese, Chinese and South Korean officials on efforts to scrap North Korea's nuclear programs.
North Korea, which staged a nuclear test in October 2006, is disabling its plutonium-producing reactor and other plants under a six-party deal reached last year with the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
However, disputes over the promised declaration of its nuclear activities due on December the 31st have blocked the start of the final phase of the process, the permanent dismantling of the plants and the handover of all material.
