Speaking after his trip to Pyongyang, which he described as useful despite failing to meet with the North's top nuclear negotiator, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the North was waiting for sanctions to be lifted to start cooperating in full with the nuclear watchdog.
The reclusive Communist state and the other five nations involved in the long-running nuclear dispute signed a breakthrough deal February, where Pyongyang agreed to shut down its Yongbyon reactor, which could be used in weapons production, and to allow UN inspections back at its nuclear sites in exchange for energy supplies and other incentives.
The United States has since promised to settle a dispute over North Korea's bank accounts in a Macau bank, in China, which were frozen at U.S requests over money laundering accusations.
The six nations are to meet March 19 to continue denuclearization talks.
ElBaradei said Pyongyang had not put forward any new demands but said other parties should fulfill their obligations first. He said the talks were a difficult process which would take time.
North Korea conducted its ballistic missile launches in summer and the first nuclear bomb tests in October, triggering international condemnation and UN and unilateral sanctions from Japan and South Korea.
