BEIJING, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Three years of six-nation haggling ended in Beijing on Tuesday with North Korea agreeing to close its nuclear facilities in exchange for oil and aid.
In announcing the breakthrough, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States will convene March 19 for further talks, the Kyodo news service reported.
The talks' summary statement said Pyongyang "will shut down and seal for the purpose of eventual abandonment the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility, and invite back" inspectors from the U.N. nuclear agency, the Yonhap news service said.
In return, North Korea will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and a further 950,000 tons of oil as the dismantling progresses.
Other aspects of the deal require the United States' to remove of North Korea from its list of states that sponsor terrorism and the lifting of U.S. economic sanctions.
Last October, Pyongyang test-fired an atomic bomb underground, prompting the latest round of talks.
