A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan says that North Korea and the United States have not yet narrowed the gap on the North Korean nuclear issue at the ongoing six-party talks.

The Choson Sinbo reported that Pyongyang is calling on Washington to prove that it has shifted to a policy of peaceful co-existence from its purportedly hostile policy against the communist state.

The report said the North would continue to use the energy issue to determine the U.S. level of commitment.

The paper went on to say that Japan refused to take part in giving energy aid to the North on account of the abductee issue between the two countries, adding that differences with other parties were also rising to the surface.