US: NKorea agrees to disable nuclear programs by end of year

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
North Korea has agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of this year, the chief US negotiator said Sunday. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said two days of talks between the United States and North Korea in Geneva had been "very good and very substantive" and would help improve chances of a successful meeting later this month with Japan, Russia, South Korea and China in six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program and improving relations between North Korea and other countries. "One thing that we agreed on is that the DPRK will provide a full declaration of all of their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of this year, 2007," Hill told reporters, using the initials for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hill said the declaration will also include uranium enrichment programs, which the United States fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.