Envoys from six nations struck an agreement on Sunday on the next phase of ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, which the United States hailed as comprehensive and detailed. The provisional agreement will now go back to the governments for approval, and negotiators will resume their talks here in a few days so the deal can be sealed, the US and other envoys said.No specifics of the agreement were released, although the negotiations were focused on devising a plan for North Korea to disable its key nuclear facilities and declare all its atomic programme. “The joint statement was very comprehensive”, US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters, referring to the agreement outlined by China, which is hosting the talks. “China put together a very nice joint statement. There are lots of details. It is very useful.”
A South Korean official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said SundayÂ’s statement referred to disabling the NorthÂ’s main nuclear facility at Yongbyon and two other sites by the end of this year.
Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said the talks had only been suspended for two days so that each nation could formally approve the joint statement, according to a notice on ChinaÂ’s foreign ministry website.