enrichment and long-range missile launches and to allow international inspectors to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for food aid from the United States. The state-run North Korean news agency, KCNA, announced the agreement separately.
South Korea and Japan also hailed the North’s commitment to suspend its uranium enrichment programme along with nuclear and long-range missile tests, and to let UN nuclear inspectors monitor the deal. The Obama administration called the steps “important, if limited.”
The breakthrough followed US-North Korean talks in Beijing last week, the first under the new regime. The surprise announcement raised the possibility of ending a diplomatic impasse that has allowed the country’s nuclear program to continue for years without international oversight.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement posted on Thursday that China welcomed efforts by the two sides to improve relations and preserve peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. According to State Department officials who briefed reporters on condition of not being identified, the nutritional assistance will include corn-soy blend, beans, vegetable oils and ready-to-eat therapeutic food.
The six-nation nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled for some three years but countries involved have been talking for months about ways to revive them. The announcement comes as the Obama administration steps up pressure on Iran over its atomic ambitions, which Western governments fear are aimed at producing nuclear weapons.
The signals have been mixed. Only days ago, Mr. Kim delivered a bellicose speech suggesting that he could resort to military actions against South Korea as he consolidated his power. hristopher Hill, the former chief US negotiator in the six-party talks, said it was an important step that Kim’s son, Kim Jong-un, had made such a high-profile decision in the wake of his father’s death.
