BEIJING, February 13 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea has agreed to shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in return for international aid, while the U.S. has pledged to strike it off its list of countries sponsoring terrorism, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Tuesday.
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.
A source close to the six-party talks said the Unites States has promised to resolve the issue of financial sanctions against North Korea by the next round of the talks in Beijing, scheduled for March 19.
In September 2005, Pyongyang promised to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. But the negotiations broke off later that year when Washington blocked the regime's $24 million account at a Macao bank over alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
They did not resume until December 2006, two months after North Korea reported carrying out its first nuclear bomb test.
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.
In the month ahead of the next round, negotiators will set up five working groups to help the parties along the way toward implementing the September 2005 agreement.
