N Korea give nuclear plans to China

Tag: canned food

North Korea's landmark decision Thursday to divulge details of its nuclear program could lead to the end of its membership in President Bush's original "axis of evil."

By handing over about 60 pages to Chinese officials in Beijing, North Korea won an immediate reward from President Bush: the end of some economic sanctions and a pledge to remove it from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Under the agreement, North Korea must take other steps designed to give the West a fuller picture of how well-developed its nuclear program is.

Those steps include admitting inspectors, coming clean about its nuclear weapons technology and detailing the extent to which it helped Syria and others obtain nuclear materials.

In recent months, the Bush administration has negotiated actively with China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. Its agreement to take North Korea off the State Department's list of terrorism sponsors in 45 days unless Congress intervenes will leave Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria on the list.