Seoul, South Korea ? North Korea proposed a five-step plan to abandon its nuclear weapons programs at the latest round of disarmament talks that ended inconclusively last week, South Korea’s top official on relations with the communist nation said today.

Despite the proposal, North Korea has insisted that it will not make any move until the United States first offers concessions for giving up its nuclear weapons. Washington has refused the demand.

Under the plan, North Korea said it would first halt any plans for nuclear tests and agree not to transfer nuclear technology or materials to other nations, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said in Seoul.

The North would then agree not to produce more weapons, and afterward suspend and later dismantle its nuclear program, subject to verification, Chung said.

Finally, the North would rejoin the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency, Chung said.