Tentative 'deal struck' over N. Korean nukes

[XtremeJibber2001]

Tentative 'deal struck' over N. Korean nukes
POSTED: 3:48 p.m. EST, February 12, 2007

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- North Korea has tentatively agreed to close down its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy aid, U.S. and Chinese officials said Tuesday.

But the proposed deal was being reviewed by officials in the negotiators' capitals before becoming final.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead American official at the talks, said the U.S. will give an unspecified amount of energy assistance to North Korea in exchange for North Korea freezing its production of plutonium.

Hill said negotiators are running the agreement by their capitals and would reconvene later Tuesday.

"We feel it's an excellent excellent draft," Hill said. "I don't think we are the problem."

The U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have been holding talks with North Korean officials since 2002 in an effort to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program.

But the talks have been stalled for two years, and North Korea tested a low-yield nuclear weapon in October.

The latest round of talks stretched into the early morning hours Tuesday, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said negotiators would resume discussions later in the day.

"All parties had made their utmost efforts, and some positive progress has been made," Qin said. "But we still have to make further consultation discussions so as to confirm all the progress we have been made."

Hill said the talks would resume at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday (9:30 p.m. Monday ET).

In September 2005, North Korea committed to abandoning its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. Pyongyang walked away from the talks weeks later to protest a U.S. crackdown on banks suspected of helping North Korea with illegal financial activities.

But in December, Hill announced that the North appeared ready to discuss specific steps toward ending its nuclear program. Tuesday, he told reporters that the United States and its allies "have put everything on the table," and it was time for North Korea to make a decision.

[St. Jerry]

Wow! Talks and diplomacy with a memeber of the Axis of Evil actually worked! Who wuddah' thunk it?

(but too bad the end result is us paying them off)

[Dr. NO]

Wow! Talks and diplomacy with a memeber of the Axis of Evil actually worked! Who wuddah' thunk it?

(but too bad the end result is us paying them off)

Yeah, and we believed them about 10 years ago when they agreed to "talks and diplomacy" but they continued to make nukes anyway.

[XtremeJibber2001]

(but too bad the end result is us paying them off)

Would a $400+ billion war and an additional 3,000+ American lives have been a better solution?

[flissss]

XtremeJibber2001....your avatar rules.