Washington: The United States has said that normal relations with North Korea cannot come about unless Pyongyang fully addressed the nuclear issue and Washington will see whether the communist state can be removed from the list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism". "United States and North Korea have taken the first steps to see if Pyongyang can be removed form the list of the State Sponsors of Terrorism," Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, said at a special briefing after his return from Beijing.

"We are beyond the rhetoric and we are trying to deal with solving a problem. I mean, and that's why I am in this for, to try to solve a nasty problem and get on to the next nasty problem. Any effort to normalise our relationship really hits a brick wall over denuclearisation, that is, we cannot, will not, have a normal relationship with a nuclear North Korea, but that if they fulfill their promise to give up these programmes, that a lot of things, indeed, become very possible," Hill said.

"This doesn't mean that we end our problems with the DPRK. We will continue to have issues. We have human rights concerns in DPRK. I mean, there's certain standards, international standards. We don't think DPRK is quite up to those," Hill said. "There will be other continuing issues. But unless we can solve this nuclear issue, I don't think we can even get to those. So this nuclear issue is an enormous impediment right now and we are trying to resolve it," he added.