Mr Kim (left) told the delegation in Pyongyang that nations involved in the deal should fulfill their side of the bargain, the official Xinhua news agency said. -- PHOTO: AFP

Mr Sung Kim, the State Department's top Korea expert, arrived as scheduled in Pyongyang and told reporters he would meet officials for three days, Japan's Kyodo News reported from the North Korean capital.

Mr Kim, visiting Seoul earlier this week, said he would press North Korea to make a 'complete and correct' declaration of its nuclear programmes.

North Korea has said it submitted a list in November, but the United States says it is still waiting for a complete declaration including a full account of a suspected covert uranium enrichment programme.

N. Korea's Kim says stance on nuke deal unchanged
BEIJING - NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese delegation there was no change in his nation's stance on a deadlocked nuclear disarmament deal, Chinese state media said on Thursday.

Mr Kim told the delegation in Pyongyang that nations involved in the deal should fulfill their side of the bargain, the official Xinhua news agency said.

But the reclusive leader added that North Korea was willing to work with ally China to try to push for its full implementation.

The comments came as a US envoy is due to visit North Korea later this week to try to get stalled talks on the deal to scrap its nuclear programmes moving.

The North was supposed to disable its main atomic plants by Dec 31 and list all its programmes under the six-nation deal negotiated by the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan.

North Korea has said it submitted a list in November, but the United States says it failed to meet the deadline for a full declaration.

The impoverished nation blames the deadlock on negotiating partners for failing to honour their obligations, especially Washington for not starting the process of removing the North from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Under the deal, the North was also due to receive up to one million tons of fuel oil or equivalent energy aid, but only a small part has been delivered.

Washington says it will not move on delisting until it receives a complete declaration, including a full account of a suspected covert uranium enrichment programme.

The North's official news agency earlier reported that Mr Kim met the Chinese delegation Wednesday led by senior Communist party official Wang Jiarui, but did not disclose their discussions.

Mr Kim had lunch with the delegation after a 'warm and friendly' conversation, said the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Mr Wang, director of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, conveyed Chinese President Hu Jintao's greetings to Mr Kim, KCNA said.

Mr Wang was also expected to have conveyed a verbal message from the Chinese leader to invite Mr Kim to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

It quoted diplomatic sources in Beijing as saying China dispatched Mr Wang to Pyongyang to balance its diplomacy with the two Koreas. -- AFP