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North Korea has agreed to declare and pull the plug on its nuclear program. The agreement came during a meeting of top negotiators from North Korea and the U.S. held in Geneva to discuss the second phase of Pyongyang's nuclear dismantlement.
In return for Pyongyang's overture, Washington agreed to provide political and economic concessions.
But the North did not specify how this process will play out, let alone when it will be completed.
The two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia are expected to hammer out a timetable for the next stage of the nuclear saga later this month.
The upcoming six-party nuclear talks come just weeks before leaders of the two Koreas meet face-to-face for their second-ever summit in early October.
Seoul believes the inter-Korean summit will help resolve the nuclear issue.
While it is believed that inter-Korean dialogue has a limited effect on the nuclear issue, the two sides could at least reaffirm their commitment to making the peninsula nuclear-free.
But as the six countries to the nuclear dialogue try to push forward the next, most critical dismantlement phase, doubts remain.
Some South Korean officials say that disablement could be reversed months or years after Pyongyang pulls the plug.
At the center of contention is Pyongyang's alleged uranium enrichment program.
The results of the latest Washington-Pyongyang meeting have raised hopes for another six-party agreement in Beijing later this month one that takes the February nuclear accord a step forward.
But a major obstacle lingers: exactly how and when the communist regime will declare and disable its nuclear facilities.
Arirang News
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