The North Korean government has promised to dismantle the country’s nuclear programs by the year’s end following negotiations in Geneva, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill reported.

“One thing that we agreed on is that the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] will provide a full declaration of all of their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of this year, 2007,” Mr. Hill said.

Kim Gye Gwan, head of the North Korean delegation, summarized the peace talks this way: “We made it clear, we showed a clear willingness to declare and dismantle all nuclear facilities. We are happy with the way the peace talks went” (Associated Press).

In return for dismantling its nuclear programs, North Korea has requested to be taken off the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

This decision would be a huge leap in fostering a closer relationship between Washington and Pyongyang. Talks are scheduled to continue this September to determine the details of a timeline and terms of the deal.

The announcement comes as a surprise, considering that less than a year has passed since North Korea declared it had conducted its first underground nuclear test—a milestone in the country’s nuclear power development.