The United States made the move as part of an Oct. 3 agreement in which Pyongyang demanded it be removed from the State Department's list of state sponsors of international terrorism. In return, North Korea will allow international inspectors to verify activities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, reported Sunday.

"We welcome the U.S., which has honored its commitment to delist the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official (North) Korea Central News Agency.

"With the move by the United States we will also fulfill our 'action-for-action' principle and resume the disabling of the (Yongbyon) nuclear facilities and allow inspectors from the United States and the (International Atomic Energy Agency) to resume their responsibilities," the statement said.

Pyongyang stopped the dismantling of the Yongbyon plutonium-producing plants in August after demanding its removal from the U.S. terrorism list.