North Korea has reportedly agreed to halt nuclear activities including operations at a reactor in Yongbyon, and allow on-site monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency as the first steps to abandoning its nuclear program. The agreement came during a meeting of the chief nuclear negotiators of the U.S. and North Korea that ended Friday in Berlin, sources said.

According to diplomatic sources in Seoul and Beijing, North Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan told his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill that North Korea will yield in return for economic and energy aid from the U.S. and assurances that the U.S. will seek to unfreeze North Korea'ss US$24 million in accounts with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia.

The U.S. will discuss conditions for the lifting of financial sanctions in separate bilateral talks scheduled this month. The North is expected to implement its part of the deal once it is finalized in the next round of the six-nation nuclear talks, which are likely to resume early next month. Pyongyang and Washington agreed to use the term "monitoring" rather than "inspection."