(chinadaily.com.cn/Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-03 22:11

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has agreed to provide a complete list of its nuclear programs and disable its facilities at its main nuclear reactor by December 31 this year, a disarmament promise to be overseen by an experts team including US scientists, the Six-Party Talks held by Beijing said Wednesday in a statement.

Envoys join hands while posing for a group photograph at the six-nation DPRK nuclear disarmament meeting in Beijing September 30, 2007. (L to R) Russia's Alexander Losyukov, South Korea's Chun Yung-woo, DPRK's Kim Gye-gwan, China's Wu Dawei,Christopher Hill of the US and Japan's Kenichiro Sasae. [Agencies]

Chinese delegation head, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said that as part of the agreement, Washington is to lead an expert group to Pyongyang, capital of DPRK, "within the next two weeks to prepare for disablement" and will fund those initial activities.

"The disablement of the five megawatt experimental reactor at Yongbyon, the reprocessing plant at Yongbyon and the nuclear fuel rod fabrication facility at Yongbyon will be completed by 31 December 2007," said Wu Dawei, who read the statement, agreed by the Six Countries involved in the talks, including DPRK, South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

The Bush administration immediately welcomed the agreement, calling it significant progress, said a report by the Associated Press..

"These second-phase actions effectively end the DPRK's production of plutonium - a major step towards the goal of achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council.

The complex at Yongbyon has been at the center of DPRK's nuclear weapons programs for decades and is believed to have produced the nuclear device which Pyongyang detonated a year ago to prove its nuclear capability.

Since then, Pyongyang rejoined the six-nation disarmament negotiations that was mediated by Beijing. Under a broad agreement reached in February, Pyongyang pledged to disable its nuclear programs in return for one million tons of heavy fuel oil and security guarantee from the United States.

Chief negotiators from the six countries actually agreed on the statement on Sunday after four days of talks in Beijing, but it was forwarded to their capitals for approval, leading to a delay in its public release.

The statement also said the US and DPRK will "increase bilateral exchanges and enhance mutual trust" but did not set a specific timetable for when Washington will remove Pyongyang from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism - a key requirement that Pyongyang has demanded.

Arrangements will be made in future meetings between the two on normalizing their relations, the statement said.

In addition, the statement reiterated the five other countries' commitment to deliver the fuel oil and other energy and economic assistance as spelled out in the February deal.