July 23 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea pledged to honor its commitments under a deal that will end its nuclear weapons program and demanded that the other five countries involved in the agreement do the same.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the top diplomats of South Korea, China, Japan and Russia today for ``informal'' discussions during the larger meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners in Singapore.

``This meeting that just ended will be the driving force to push toward full implementation by all parties'' to the agreement, North Korean government spokesman Ri Dong Il told reporters after the meeting concluded. ``All obligations should be verified for every party of the six-party process on the principal of action for action.''

Today's talks came after North Korea agreed this month to disable its Yongbyon nuclear plant by October and allow experts to inspect the site and related documents, a precursor to the final phase of the complete dismantlement of the communist state's nuclear program. It was the first meeting of all five foreign ministers and the secretary of state since the six-nation forum started in 2003.

``It was a general discussion but it was a good discussion,'' U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who is the chief American negotiator in the nuclear talks, told reporters in Singapore. ``The main issue was about verification and the fact that now the North Koreans have put forward a declaration, it's time to put together a verification protocol.''

Disablement for Ties

Rice twice shook hands with her North Korean counterpart -- whom she was meeting for the first time -- during the meeting, which she told reporters traveling with her took place in a ``very good'' atmosphere.

``It was a good meeting, no surprises,'' Rice said. It was just an informal opportunity. I think everybody essentially confirmed the September agreement, confirmed the October 2007 agreement, confirmed that we need to move ahead rapidly to finish phase two obligations; a call to have better bilateral relations among the various parties.''

North Korea agreed in February 2007 to disable its nuclear programs in return for normal diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan and economic aid equivalent to 1 million metric tons of heavy fuel oil. Kim Jong Il's regime, which conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, complained last month about the slow pace of energy assistance.

October Deadline

As part of the new agreement, North Korea will complete by October the disabling of its five-megawatt reactor and fuel reprocessing plant at Yongbyon, which was used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. At the same time, the remaining members of the forum will complete delivery of the heavy fuel oil.

North Korea has said that while it has disabled 80 percent of its Yongbyon plant, only 40 percent of the promised energy aid has been delivered. Japan has refused to provide fuel oil before the resolution of the case of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea during the 1970s and 1980s.

``There was a consensus around the table that while everybody has obligations that need to be met, the issue right now is to put together a verification protocol for the North Korean declaration,'' Hill said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Singapore at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 23, 2008 11:09 EDT