BEIJING, July 12 -- Diplomats from six nations agreed in principle Saturday to set up an intrusive inspection program to verify that North Korea has dismantled its plutonium-based program to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons.
In Depth
DIPLOMACY & DETERRANCE
The standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Ban Ki Moon, 62, foreign minister of South Korea and newly selected secretary general of the United Nations, discusses his new role with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth.
North Korea's Big Test Details on North Korea's latest nuclear claims and an overview of the world's nuclear weapons arsenal.
Gallery
North Korea Agrees to Begin Denuclearization In a landmark international accord, North Korea promised Feb. 13, 2007, to close down and seal its main nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil. The move was that country's first step in abandoning all nuclear weapons and research programs.