The nation’s top nuclear envoy Kim Sook says North Korea has received a U.S. proposal on a mechanism for verifying the North's claim about its nuclear past.

After meeting with U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill in Singapore Tuesday, Kim noted the ball was in Pyongyang's court.

He went on to say that the majority of his discussion with Hill focused on the North’s nuclear verification and how to set up the confirmation mechanism as soon as possible.

The United States' position is that the mechanism should be up and running before August eleventh, the planned date for the North's removal from the U.S. terrorism blacklist.

Kim added that Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice were expected to have in-depth discussions about the verification mechanism.