For oil, N. Korea ready to freeze nuclear site

North Korea is ready to freeze a key nuclear facility and allow international inspectors back into the country in exchange for steps to ease US financial restrictions on the regime and half a million tons of oil, a Japanese news report said Sunday. At coming disarmament talks in Beijing, Pyongyang will also demand that Washington revoke its designation of North Korea as a terrorist-sponsoring state, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported. The report quoted former US State Department official Joel Wit, who met with North Korean officials in Pyongyang last week.