N Korea agrees to disable nuclear facilities

North Korea has agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of this year, the chief US negotiator said today.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said two days of talks between the US and North Korea in Geneva, Switzerland, had been “very good and very substantive”.

He said they would help improve chances of a successful meeting later this month when both sides meet with Japan, Russia, South Korea and China in six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme 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 programmes and will disable their nuclear programmes by the end of this year, 2007,” Hill told reporters, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.