North Korea to disable reactor by year end

North Korea has agreed to disable its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and provide a complete declaration of all nuclear programmes by the end of the year, in a deal that won praise from US President George W. Bush.

Under the agreement reached between China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the US, the isolated state will get aid equivalent to nearly one million tonnes of heavy fuel oil and Washington will move toward taking it off a terrorism blacklist.

Details of the deal were released in Beijing yesterday after all parties had signed off on it and as the two Koreas held only their second-ever summit in the North.

The six-party talks, aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear programmes, had ended on Sunday to allow delegates to return to their home countries to discuss a joint statement with their governments.