Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have agreed to take North Korea off the American list of terrorism-sponsoring countries and lift Washington's trade ban on Pyongyang.

Song spoke to reporters Sunday after returning from visits to the U.S. and Canada, saying he and Rice agreed that the North has made progress in disabling its nuclear program under a six-party agreement reached last month.

His comments are seen as confirming Washington's intent to simultaneously push for the removal of Pyongyang from the terrorism-sponsoring list and the disablement of the North's nuclear program.

Song also said he and Rice also agreed on the need to continue discussions on a new peace regime for the Korean Peninsula.