N Korea to declare nuke activities within week

The agency, quoting diplomatic sources, said the declaration was expected to be delivered around June 26. It said the United States has agreed to start the process of dropping the North from a terrorism blacklist around the same time.

In a symbolic gesture the North would then blow up the cooling tower at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, possibly on June 27 or 28.

But it was demanding cash in return, according to a South Korean foreign ministry official quoted by the agency. Seoul's foreign ministry said it was checking the reports.

"North Korea is demanding money from the US and other related nations in return for destroying the cooling tower," the official said on condition of anonymity. The North and its dialogue partners - the US, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan