TOKYO - North Korea will have to take substantial steps to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions before the U.S. considers lifting sanctions or removing Pyongyang from the list of nations sponsoring terrorism, a top U.S. official said Friday.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who met with Japanese officials earlier on Friday, also demanded North Korea fully account for Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1970s and 80s.
"When it comes to such issues as lifting of sanctions or delisting North Korea ... those are issues that we have simply agreed to begin to discuss as a part of this process," Negroponte told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
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