Breakthrough!

President George W. Bush's team was able to do something that even the great Jed Bartlett couldn't: North Korea is stopping all nuclear programs.

AP News Alerts from yesterday:

BEIJING (AP) Negotiators at the talks on North Korea's nuclear program have reached their first-ever agreement, unanimously accepting a joint statement.

...and...

BEIJING (AP) A joint statement released at the six-party nuclear talks says North Korea has promised to drop all nuclear programs as soon as possible.

Our good friend over at Bizzy Blog sent us a note suggesting that he thinks this is the real deal. "Trust but verify, of course, but when you read it, it's hard to argue that this is just another shake-and-bake by the NoKos." Indeed. Read the whole story here.

"All six parties emphasized that to realize the inspectable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the target of the six-party talks," the statement said.

The North and United States also pledged in the agreement to respect each other's sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence.

"The United States affirmed that is has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention to attack or invade (North Korea) with nuclear or conventional weapons," according to the statement, assurances echoed by South Korea.

This does look promising, but I'm with Bizzy...we should trust, but verify.

This looks like great news and a terrific win for the administration. I don't see that we gave up anything at this point, but let's see the rest of the details before we pop the cork on the champaign...