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/ 19 September 2005
North Korea promised on Monday to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for pledges of aid and security, the first major breakthrough in more than two years of deadlock over the high-stakes crisis. The unexpected agreement also says the United States will respect the North’s sovereignty and will not attack.
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/ 18 September 2005
Delegates were engaged in last-ditch wrangling on Sunday over a proposed joint document aimed at breaking the deadlock in North Korean nuclear talks, but there was no sign of any compromise, and discussions will go into a seventh day. Failure to reach an agreement could force Washington to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
North Korean, Russian, United States and South Korean delegates discussing ways to scrap North Korea’s nuclear-weapons programme returned to the main talks venue late on Wednesday, fuelling speculation they would meet overnight to try to agree on basic principles for ending the three-year stand-off.
Japan on Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of a gas attack that killed 12 people and injured about 5 500 on the Tokyo subway as the cult responsible apologised anew for the worst terror act in the country’s modern history. The Aum Supreme Truth released nerve gas on five trains during the morning rush hour on March 20 1995.
North Korea is awakening from an egalitarian communist dream with vast economic reforms, ranging from price and wage spirals to a phase-out of state rationing and a currency shake-up.