North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator has reportedly told his U.S. counterpart during their recent Berlin meeting that the North will stop operating its five-megawatt nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and allow inspectors into the country.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily, citing multiple sources close to the six-way nuclear talks, said that North Korea's Kim Kye-kwan told U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill that his country would shut down the reactor and permit the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, whom Pyongyang kicked out in late 2002.

But the North Korean envoy refused to dismantle existing nuclear facilities or report undisclosed nuclear programs.

Meanwhile, another Japanese daily, the Mainichi Shimbun, quoted Beijing diplomats as saying that Washington and Pyongyang will begin working-level talks on U.S. sanctions in the Chinese capital next week.