Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should take concrete actions for complete denuclearization if he wants the United Nations to lift sanctions on his country. 

Ban made the remark in an interview with the Associated Press in Tokyo on Monday on the sidelines of an event organized by the World Bank. 

The former South Korean foreign minister, who led the UN for ten years through 2016, also urged the North to give a list of its nuclear arsenal to credible international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA). 

He said the nuclear crisis has continued because of Pyongyang's development of related missile and weapons programs and materials.

Noting that the world is ready to help the regime, Ban said he is sure the UN Security Council will have no reason to continue imposing sanctions on the North if it takes concrete disarmament steps.