N Korea agrees to declare, disable nuke programmes
Foreign Desk Report

BEIJING—North Korea has agreed to declare all its nuclear programmes and disable its main atomic reactor by the end of the year under US supervision, according to a six-nation agreement released Wednesday.
The deal — the second phase of a long-running process aimed at ending the North’s atomic weapons drive — was immediately welcomed by US President George W. Bush, as well as other six-party participants Japan and South Korea.
North Korea “agreed to disable all its existing nuclear facilities” as the next step in a landmark agreement reached by the six parties in February, according to a copy of the text released by China, the host of the talks. As part of the second phase, North Korea will disable its five-megawatt plutonium producing reactor and two other key facilities at Yongbyon by December 31. Those facilities were described by Bush as the “core” of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, according to a US government statement released in Washington.
The Yongbyon facilities, as well as two other minor sites, were shut down in July as part of the first phase of the February accord. “At the request of the other parties, the United States will lead disablement activities,” Wednesday’s statement said, adding that US experts would lead a team to the North within two weeks to begin preparations. North Korea also agreed to provide a “complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programmes” by December 31, according to Wednesday’s statement. The reclusive North has spent decades developing its nuclear programmes and no-one outside the country knows for sure how much atomic material it has produced, or whether there are any other facilities it has yet to declare. While Yongbyon produced plutonium, the United States had previously accused the North of also running a secret programme to develop highly enriched uranium. Both highly enriched uranium and plutonium can be used to make nuclear weapons. However there was no mention of uranium in Wednesday’s statement.
In return for pushing ahead with disarmament, the five other parties to the talks will provide North Korea with another 900,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil or its equivalent in aid, the pact said. The impoverished nation has already received 100,000 tonnes from South Korea and China after it shut down Yongbyon and allowed inspectors from the UN’s atomic watchdog back into the country. Bush last week gave the go-ahead to deliver another tranche of 50,000 tonnes. Wednesday’s statement said the United States agreed to work to improve bilateral relations with North Korea, “moving towards a full diplomatic relationship.”
Washington also committed to work towards removing the North from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, but only if Pyongyang continued pushing ahead with disarmament, the agreement said. Pyongyang was tasked with improving its troubled relations with Japan and resolving issues left over from an “unfortunate past” — an apparent reference to Japan’s wartime occupation of the Korean peninsula and the kidnapping of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang.

S Korea pleased over N Korea summit

SEOUL (South Korea)—South Korea expressed satisfaction Wednesday after the first summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in seven years, while Pyongyang committed at separate nuclear negotiations to disable its main reactor by the end of the year.
In an agreement between the U.S. and regional powers at China-hosted arms talks, the North also said it would also give a “complete and correct declaration” of all its nuclear programs by Dec. 31, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said in Beijing. The move would be the biggest step North Korea has taken to scale back its nuclear ambitions after decades seeking to develop the world’s deadliest weapons. Previously, the North had only frozen its arms programs under a 1994 deal with the U.S. But it quickly restarted production of weapons-grade plutonium at its main nuclear complex after the beginning of the latest atomic standoff in 2002, leading to its first-ever test nuclear explosion in October 2006.—Agencies