North Korea Agrees to Deadline on Nuclear Weapons

A US-led team of nuclear experts will travel to North Korea within two weeks to oversee the disabling of the reclusive state's reactor, it was announced yesterday, in an important step towards easing tension on the divided peninsula.

Under the long-awaited agreement North Korea has promised to neutralize its nuclear weapons program and give a "complete and correct declaration" of all its fissile material by December 31.

A White House spokesman said George Bush welcomed the deal, which came just under a year after North Korea carried out its first atomic weapons test. Other signatories - including South Korea, Russia, Japan and host China - are expected to confirm the details within days.

It is part of a flurry of diplomatic activity that has brought together the leaders of North and South Korea at a summit for only the second time in half a century.

At the end of the first full day of talks in Pyongyang the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, said he was satisfied that his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-il would yield positive results.

Two sessions of talks yesterday appeared to have eased the gloom that prevailed on his arrival in the North Korean capital on Tuesday. In marked contrast to his dour, tired appearance the previous day, Mr Kim smiled warmly and even offered to extend the talks for a day.

In the morning the leaders spent two hours in "frank" discussions that, according to Mr Roh, raised differences on everything from economic development to the semantics of a peace declaration. Mr Kim is said to have expressed dissatisfaction with Seoul's position on talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program. However, South Korean aides said there had been progress on almost every topic raised by Mr Roh, according to pool reports.

The leaders are expected to sign a peace declaration and economic deal today, although its significance is limited. A formal treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean war is not possible without the backing of the US and China, who were also participants.

As well as high hopes, there were elements of farce. Rather than Mr Roh going home today, Mr Kim urged him to relax. "It'll be good to push your schedule today to tomorrow, take your time and sit down, loosen your belt and have lunch tomorrow ... let's delay your schedule by a day," Mr Kim was quoted as saying. Mr Roh said he had to discuss it first with security and protocol bureaucrats. Mr Kim, who inherited a personality cult from his father, was clearly astonished. "The president can't make the decision? All that's needed is for the president to decide," he said.

"I decide on the big things. I can't decide on the small things," answered Mr Roh.

Mr Roh was taken to see the Arirang mass games, a propaganda show. For the second evening in a row Mr Kim did not join his guest. His absence at a banquet the previous day renewed speculation that he was either unwell or displaying his seniority over Mr Roh, who is younger and soon to step down.

Mr Kim has diabetes and there were unconfirmed reports this year that he may have heart disease. After his display on Tuesday South Korean newspapers carried interviews with doctors saying the North Korea leader was ailing. Yesterday he tried to quash speculation. When Mr Roh thanked him for greeting him in person, he replied: "I've no reason to stay at home. I'm not a patient," according to Yonhap news agency.