North Korea has tentatively agreed to close down its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy aid, U.S. and Chinese officials said Tuesday.

But the proposed deal was being reviewed by officials in the negotiators' capitals before becoming final.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead American official at the talks, said the United States will give an unspecified amount of energy assistance to North Korea in exchange for North Korea freezing its production of plutonium.

Hill said negotiators are running the agreement by their capitals and would reconvene later Tuesday.

"We feel it's an excellent, excellent draft," Hill said. "I don't think we are the problem."

The United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have been holding talks with North Korean officials since 2002 in an effort to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program.
But the talks have been stalled for two years, and North Korea tested a low-yield nuclear weapon October 9.

North Korea became subject to a raft of UN sanctions, including an embargo on the sale of nuclear technology and large-scale weapons.

The U.S. government published a list of luxury goods it is also banning from sale to the reclusive east Asian nation, including cigars, plasma televisions, beer, iPods, Rolex watches and diamonds - presumed a blow to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who reportedly loves living luxuriously.

"Energy aid" lollollol.... We all need energy.

What I've heard is that we ( the US ) managed to get a key North Korean bank closed, where Kim Il Jong kept some of his money, and most of the people who work under him kept their fortunes, which are now frozen. Which probably gives them a lot more reason to come to the table.

This is a great thing - there's been a new arms race like in the Cold War, only fueled by AQ Kahn and his customers. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power, and that's probably a huge part of why Iran is so willing to risk everything for the bomb. It would be nice if our species doesn't wipe ourselves out in a series of mushroom clouds.