A U-S newspaper says President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush had fine-tuned stances on conditional provision of energy aid to North Korea ahead of last month's nuclear talks.

Monday's New York Times, quoting U.S. officials, said Bush had telephoned President Roh in February to make sure Seoul's delegates would offer energy assistance to the North only in return for an upfront commitment on disarmament.

The report said that in the end, the offer was transmitted in exactly the fashion that Bush wanted.

The report contradicts the prevalent view that the U-S had so far shown a passive stance toward providing energy aid to the communist North, in opposition to such proposals by South Korea, China and Russia.