US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied Friday that the deadlock had been broken in North Korea's nuclear disarmament talks.

"We are not yet at a point where we can make a judgement as to whether or not the North Koreans have met their obligations," Rice said here at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"And we are therefore not at a point at which the United States can make a judgement as to whether or not it's time to exercise our obligations."

North Korea said Wednesday it had reached agreement with the United States on its promised nuclear declaration, an issue that has blocked progress in a six-nation disarmament deal.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman quoted by state media said the two sides, during talks in Singapore Tuesday, also agreed on "political compensation" from Washington.

The North demands that the US start the process of removing it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, in return for a declaration.

Japan's Kyodo News, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources, reported Friday that North Korea has agreed with the United States to resolve the standoff through a face-saving private acknowledgement of US charges over its nuclear programs.

Pyongyang missed a deadline in a six-nation disarmament deal to declare all nuclear programmes by the end of last year. But the chief US and North Korean negotiators reported progress at Tuesday's meeting in Singapore.