The agreement was reached at the latest round of six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, which, along with the two Koreas, included the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.
Russia, the United States, South Korea and China will provide humanitarian aid to North Korea in return for its nuclear disarmament, a joint statement at the six-party talks said.
The countries said they will seek to involve Japan and the rest of the world community in helping North Korea.
The statement also said North Korea will receive one million metric tons of fuel oil in energy aid after it opens up and disables all its nuclear installations.
The first 50,000 tons will be provided within 60 days of the shutdown of its five-megawatt reactor at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pyongyang.
The negotiators also discussed Russia's plan to write off North Korea's debt to the former Soviet Union as a way of aiding the impoverished nation.
According to the Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry, North Korea's Soviet-era debt stands at over $8 billion, and is one of the main impediments to the development of trade between the two countries.
Russia and North Korea agreed to hold a meeting of an intergovernmental commission on the issue in March.
Talks resumed last Thursday in Beijing amid hopes for progress toward implementing a September 2005 agreement, in which Pyongyang committed itself to halting its nuclear activities in return for economic and security incentives.
The next round of North Korea nuclear talks has been set for March 19.
In the month ahead, negotiators will set up five working groups to help the parties along the way toward implementing the September 2005 agreement.
