WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The U.S. government said Monday that there are some "good" indications from North Korea but that it should show its seriousness on dialogue through action.
"It's a good thing, obviously, that they are saying better things," Victoria Nuland, spokeswoman for the State Department, said at a press briefing.
She was responding to the latest statement by Pyongyang's foreign ministry that the nation has no plans for a nuclear test "at present."
The ministry described media reports of its possible third nuclear experiment as stemming from Seoul's efforts to "rattle the nerves" of North Korea.
Nuland stressed that the U.S. will judge North Koreans' intention "by their actions rather than their words."
"We continue to call on them to fulfill their international obligations, to refrain from any provocative activity, including provocative rhetoric, with regard to their neighbors," she said.
She said there has been no direct communication recently between the U.S. and North Korea.
Asked about whether the U.S. views the Feb. 29 deal with North Korea as null and void, she offered a diplomatically worded answer.
"They (North Koreans) should be bound by the terms of their U.N. obligations and by the talks that they entered into in 2005," Nuland said.
The so-called Leap Day agreement was an attempt to "reaffirm commitments that they had made," she added, but it was Pyongyang that chose to disregard it within weeks by launching a long-range rocket in April.
Under the Leap Day deal, the North agreed to suspend some of its nuclear activities and impose a moratorium on missile and nuclear testing.
In return, the U.S. was in final consultations with the North for administrative details on the agreed-upon provision of 240,000 tons of food.
"But the fundamental issue hasn't changed, which is our expectation that they'll live up to their international obligations," Nuland said.