N. Korea agrees to close nuclear facilities by Dec. 31

North Korea agreed Wednesday to disable facilities at its main nuclear reactor complex before the year ends and will co-operate with U.S.-led procedures starting in two weeks.

Six nations brokered a deal Wednesday in Beijing that lays out an official plan for North Korea to shut down its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon by Dec. 31.

The draft agreement drew accolades from U.S. President George W. Bush and the White House.

"President Bush welcomes today's announcement," said White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Johndroe added that the "second-phase actions" — requirements to dismantle Yongbyon's last working reactor and also provide a list of all North Korea's nuclear programs — would be an important step towards a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

In July, Pyongyang accomplished the first phase of the agreement when it sealed its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon.

Wednesday's draft agreement with China, the U.S., Japan, Russia and South Korea calls for North Korea to provide a "complete and correct declaration" of its nuclear programs, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said.

The U.S. will take the lead in overseeing the disablement process and will fund the initial activities, he added.

Demand for removalfrom 'axis of evil' list

"The disablement of the five-megawatt experimental reactor at Yongbyon, the reprocessing plant at Yongbyon and the nuclear fuel rod fabrication facility at Yongbyon will be completed by 31 December 2007," Wu said.

The landmark agreement puts in writing a verbal promise that North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan gave to U.S. envoy Christopher Hill a month ago.

In exchange for following through with the denuclearization commitment, the U.S. has promised to honour North Korea's demand to be removed from a list of "axis of evil" countries.

Wednesday'sbreakthrough deal was reported on the same day that the leaders of South Korea and North Korea held their first summit in seven years.

'We had enough dialogue'

Earlier in the day, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun rejected an offer from his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, to extend their talks by an extra day so the two leaders could hold more substantive talks on Friday, beyond the summit's scheduled Thursday close.

Kim later agreed on Wednesday that scheduling additional sessions was unnecessary.

"As we had enough dialogue, we don't need to extend" the summit, Kim said, following a second round of meetings with Roh on Wednesday.

Roh said on pool video relayed to Seoul that he and Kim engaged in "frank" discussions, adding that "in some issues we did not share the same perceptions."

But at a resumption of talks after lunch, Kim raised the idea of continuing the conference past Thursday, presumably a positive sign Kim wanted to wade into the talks "in a more substantial way," Roh's presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul.

Second summit since 1953

The summit between the North and South Korean leaders is only the second one since the two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1953. The first summit was held in 2000.

Among the key issues the two men wanted to discuss was the North's progress and plans to shut down its nuclear program as well as the expansion of economic co-operation between the North and the South.

"What we would confirm was that we both had a firm commitment for peace, and a commitment toward change and to set a new direction for the future," Roh said in the television report.

Reports suggested that Kim had taken a shining to Roh, as the reclusive leader appeared upbeat and cheerful when he greeted the South Korean president on Wednesday.

As the summit began, Roh and Kim spoke briefly about recent floods in the North that had delayed this week's summit by a month. The heavy summer rains and floods left about 600 people dead or missing and tens of thousands homeless. The summit had been originally slated for August.