WASHINGTON - SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview on Sunday that the United States did not trust North Korea and as a result was pushing for strict procedures to ensure the regime abandon its nuclear weapons programme.

Asked by a NBC television reporter if the US administration had placed too much trust in North Korea in six-party talks, as some US conservative commentators have charged, Dr Rice said: 'No, and of course we didn't trust them'.

'What we are negotiating is a verification protocol because nobody does trust them. And in fact, if you look at the agreement that was signed in September of 2005, it committed the North to de-nuclearisation within a context of the Six Parties,' Dr Rice told NBC's 'Meet the Press'.

The six parties in the disarmament talks are Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and the United States.

Dr Rice said that Washington has responded to each positive move by Pyongyang.

'So when they shut down the reactor, we met some of our small obligations in terms of fuel oil delivery,' Dr Rice said.

'They did shut down the reactor. There hasn't been any more plutonium made since September of 2005.'

And when North Korea tested a missile in July of 2006, set off a crude nuclear device three months later, 'we went back to the other five', Dr Rice said.

'I was on the phone with them ... within hours, and by the end of the week we had a Chapter 7 Security Council resolution, sanctions, and constraints on the North Koreans, signed on by the Chinese.'

When North Korea then agreed to disable their nuclear reactor, 'we agreed disabling plus a declaration from them about their further nuclear programs, and then more assistance from us'.

The North blew up the reactor's cooling tower in June 2008. 'They did really disable certain elements of their nuclear system on the plutonium side. And we delivered,' she said.

'A lot has been achieved here,' Dr Rice said. 'I think more will be achieved.'

She added: 'It's really only going to be achieved in the context of the six parties,' because if not 'then the North can play the game that they used to play of getting benefits from other parts of the international community and refusing to carry forward on its obligations'. -- AFP