Washington: The United States described the breakthrough agreement with North Korea Tuesday as an "important first step" toward ending the country's nuclear programme but cautioned there are still difficult negotiations ahead.
"This is not the end of the story," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after North Korea agreed to begin dismantling its nuclear programme during six-nation talks in Beijing.
After years of contentious negotiations, North Korea for the first time agreed on Tuesday to implement steps to abandon its nuclear activities in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel oil aid.
Another round of six-nation talks that include China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas is scheduled for March 19 to check on the progress of Tuesday's agreement. A ministerial level meeting is to take place after 60 days.
Under the implementation process, the US government expects North Korea to open up its nuclear programme to international inspections and shut down its alleged efforts to enrich uranium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
"When this is concluded, there will be no nuclear technology in North Korea, period," he said. "We see it as a vindication of multilateral diplomacy."
Since North Korea revealed in late 2002 that it had resumed its nuclear programme in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US and ousted UN inspectors the following year, Washington has insisted on negotiations that included other countries in the region to increase pressure on Pyongyang.
"It's one thing to walk away from one party. It's another thing to walk away from all of its neighbours," the top US envoy to the Beijing talks, Christopher Hill, said in an interview with CNN.
Under the deal, North Korea would shut down its main reactor in Yongbyon within 60 days, China's chief negotiator, Wu Dawei said.
UN inspectors would return to North Korea to monitor the process and Pyongyang would receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil within 60 days, Wu said.
The nuclear deal with North Korea comes as good news for Bush, who has been criticised for invading Iraq while overlooking Pyonyang's nuclear activities that produced the testing of the atomic device. In a statement, US President George W. Bush said he was "pleased" with the outcome.
"These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea's nuclear programmes," Bush said.
"They reflect the common commitment of the participants to a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons,” he added.
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