North Korea halts main reactor and weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid

BEIJING -- North Korea agreed Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.\nThe deal, reached after arduous talks, marks the first concrete plan for disarmament in more than three years of six-nation negotiations. The plan also could potentially herald a new era of cooperation in the region with the North's longtime foes -- the United States and Japan -- also agreeing to discuss normalizing relations.\n"These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea's nuclear programs," President Bush said in a statement read by his spokesman. "They reflect the common commitment of the participants to a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons."\nMaking sure North Korea declares all its nuclear facilities and shuts them down is likely to prove difficult, nuclear experts have said.\nIn a sign of potential troubles to come, North Korea's state news agency said the country was receiving the 1 million tons in oil for a "temporary suspension" of its nuclear facilities -- but failed to mention the full disarmament the agreement calls for.\nIt was not clear if the report represented a North Korean attempt to backtrack on the deal, or simply a statement of bluster for a deeply impoverished domestic audience that the government has sought to rally around the nuclear program.\nThe country has sidestepped previous agreements, allegedly running a uranium-based weapons program even as it froze a plutonium-based one -- sparking the latest nuclear crisis in late 2002. There are believed to be countless mountainside tunnels in which to hide projects.\n"We don't have an agreement at this point even on the existence of this program but I certainly have made very clear repeatedly that we need to ensure that we know precisely the status of that," said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the American envoy to the talks. "It's a very solid step forward."\nUnder the deal, the North would receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor.