Good news from North Korea

The Washington Post/AP is reporting the following:

U.S. Pleased With Korea Nuclear Agreement
President Bush said Monday that North Korea's pledge to end its nuclear weapons programs is a positive step, but he expressed some skepticism about whether Pyongyang will live up to its promises.

"They have said _ in principle _ that they will abandon their weapons programs," Bush said. "And what we have said is, 'Great. That's a wonderful step forward.' But now we've got to verify whether that happens."

"The question is, over time will all parties adhere to the agreement," Bush said.

North Korea agreed to stop building nuclear weapons and to allow international inspections. In exchange, the country will get energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances.

The deal announced Monday comes after two years of talks between North Korea, the United States and four other nations. Bush said it is "a formula that we all hope works."

"Part of the way forward is for the North Koreans to understand that we're serious about this and that we expect there to be a verifiable process," the president said after a meeting of his Homeland Security Council.

Still, Bush said the agreement was "a step forward in making this world a more secure place."

The Japanese Mainichi Daily News has the text of the agreement:

Text of joint statement from North Korea nuclear talks
Text of the joint statement issued Monday by six nations at talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear program:

For the cause of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia at large, the six parties held in a spirit of mutual respect and equality serious and practical talks concerning the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula on the basis of the common understanding of the previous three rounds of talks and agreed in this context to the following:

1) The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date to the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT) and to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards.

It continues with five more points. Excellent news!