The United States said Monday it will not remove the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the list of state sponsors of terrorism until the DPRK agrees to a way to verify its nuclear weapons program.

The United States will not do so until the DPRK agrees to a " strong verification regime," State Department official Robert Wood said.

Monday is the earliest date that the United State could take the DPRK off the list of state sponsors of terrorism after the DPRK submitted its nuclear declaration in June and blew up the cooling tower as the first step to dismantle its nuclear programs and facilities.

According to media reports, Dennis Wilder, U.S. National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs, said Sunday that a delisting on Monday would be "unlikely."

Under an agreement reached at the six-party talks in Beijing in February last year, the DPRK agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and declare all its nuclear programs and facilities by the end of 2007, in exchange for diplomatic and economic incentives.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)