The United States has paid North Korea more than 28 million dollars for recovering the remains of American soldiers since 1993.

Quoting U.S. congressional statistics, Radio Free Asia on Thursday said Washington has paid Pyongyang 1.5 million dollars of this year's 5.5 million budget since January.

The United States also footed the bill of 25,000 dollars to fly in a North Korean delegation for related talks.

The report said the Pentagon originally wanted to continue excavation work through October but abruptly suspended operations in May due to rising tension over the nuclear issue.