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North Korea handed over a long-delayed account of its nuclear activities on Thursday (June 26), the White House said, a step that will bring the North relief from U.S. sanctions but still leave questions about its atomic ambitions. The United States said it would act to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and said it would also lift sanctions on North Korea under the "Trading with the Enemy Act." South Korean Foreign Minister Yoo Myung-hwan told journalists on Thursday (June 26), it would be regrettable if North Korea did not fully account for its atomic weapons in its declaration of nuclear activities. "This (submitting the declaration) is the key action, which will be a significant starting point for a practical development of the denuclearisation. Since it is providing groundwork for a next step toward complete denuclearisation, our government evaluates this very positively," said Yoo at a news conference. The declaration is part of a six-country deal among South and North Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China on ending the North's nuclear programmes in return for economic and political incentives. "Even if the declaration has a report on the substantive issue of the amount of plutonium extracted, it would be regrettable if the matter of nuclear weapons is not accounted for in full," said Yoo. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he wished to see the North Korean report verified in order to ensure the denuclearisation process goes smoothly. "We need to verify the report to make sure the process of denuclearisation goes without hitch and we should discuss this more through the framework of the six party talks," Fukuda told Japanese reporters.. Experts on the long-running dispute said the declaration was a step forward, but one that took the negotiators deeper into uncertainties about who will make further concessions, and how much other countries are willing to trust Pyongyang. China, the closest Pyongyang has to an ally, has hosted six-country talks that 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. The United States said North Korea had pledged to destroy on Friday (June 27) the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a symbolic event highlighting its commitment to disable the source of its bomb-grade plutonium. The steam seen coming out of the cooling tower in spy satellite images has been the most visible sign of the plant's operation. In an unprecedented move, North Korea has invited some Western media to record the event. The chief U.S. envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, told reporters on Wednesday (June 25) before heading to join U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Kyoto that North Korea's declaration was likely to be soon followed by a new round of six-party negotiations. Bush bracketed North Korea, Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil" after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, accusing them of state-sponsored terrorism and of seeking weapons of mass destruction. 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.