A U.S. daily says North Korea proposed that it would no longer develop nuclear weapons as long as it does not have to give up its existing nuclear assets as a condition for resuming dialogue. 

According to the Washington Post on Sunday, columnist Josh Rogin said in an opinion piece that North Korea laid out the terms in June during a private conference in Beijing called the Northeast Asian Security Dialogue. 

The article reported that while the State Department said no formal meeting took place, one participant told Rogin that Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Choe Son-hui, deputy director general of the North's Foreign Ministry’s U.S. affairs department, may have talked on the sidelines. 

According to the source, Choe spelled out terms for a resumption of dialogue. Choe said that Pyongyang will no longer discuss giving up existing nuclear assets but could strike a deal stopping a future buildup.

The participant said the remarks sounded like the North was saying that it was there to send a message that the door is not closed to negotiations, however, it will not allow giving up what it has.