North Korea expected to hand over nuclear report

BEIJING, June 26 (Reuters) - North Korea is widely expected to hand China a long-delayed account of its nuclear activities on Thursday in a key step to implementing an initial atomic disarmament pact.

China is the host of six-party talks that early last year secured a deal offering North Korea energy, aid and diplomatic concessions in return for disabling its main nuclear facility and unveiling its past nuclear activities.

That phase of the nuclear disarmament deal was due for completion by the end of 2007, but wrangling over money, aid and the contents of the North's "declaration" has held up progress.

But officials involved in the talks have indicated they expect China, as the talks host, to receive the declaration on Thursday, a date set by North Korea, which defied international warnings and tested a nuclear device in October 2006.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it had no firm information on whether the declaration would come as planned and how it would be announced.

The six-party talks bring together North and South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia. And the dominant player, Washington, has already said it could move quickly to remove North Korea from its list of terrorism sponsors once the declaration has been handed over.

Removal from the U.S. list would ease trade restrictions and open the way for other cooperation with the United States, and eventually enable North Korea to work with the World Bank and other international institutions.

Japan has expressed worry about the United States removing North Korea from the terror list before the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korean agents is addressed, but Japanese officials have recently indicated that they support the moves.

North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s, five of whom have since been repatriated to Japan.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)