Tentative N. Korea deal struck

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BEIJING -- Negotiators early today announced a tentative agreement on steps to begin dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for a package of energy assistance and other incentives.

The deal, concluded after five days of talks culminating in a 16-hour session that ended in the small hours today, remains subject to approval from the capitals of the six participating nations. Most details were not made public, and officials said they would resume negotiations later today.

Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator, said the talks had "made a lot of progress -- so much so that the Chinese felt secure in distributing a final text."

A brief statement issued by China's official Xinhua news agency just before 3 a.m. Beijing time said: "The envoys of the six parties involved in the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue worked overnight in a bid to clinch a possible deal, but no agreements announced yet."

Mr. Hill said the United States was fully behind the Chinese text, but he did not rule out attempts by the North to extract more concessions or renegotiate the steps it has to take. He called the draft an implementation document of the September 2005 joint statement of principles, in which all parties committed to the denuclearization of the peninsula.

He said he had been in constant communication with Washington during the negotiations and spoken to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "on many occasions this evening." He said that "people need to look at it, including Secretary Rice" and that the text was an "excellent, excellent draft."

"I don't think we are the problem. I can't predict everything in that regard. The Chinese worked really hard, and we support what the Chinese are doing," Mr. Hill added.

He said the North Koreans "have seen every word that is in this text, and it was on this basis that all the parties agreed that this was the way to go." Nevertheless, "they'll have things that they want to get off their chest; we'll have a meeting tomorrow to see where we are."

North Korea did not comment publicly on the draft, but South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said he thought the proposal would be acceptable to Pyongyang. He said the five other countries agreed to evenly contribute to the energy aid outlined under the deal.

Japan and Russia, however, were noncommittal. The Japanese envoy, Kenichiro Sasae, said it was "too early to tell" whether Tokyo was satisfied. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said there were "many questions regarding details," Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported.