Rice: N. Korea to declare nuclear past

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended U.S. diplomacy toward North Korea on Wednesday, saying a deal with Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear ambitions made Asia and the United States safer and that the country is close to making public details of its past nuclear pursuits.

Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, Rice said that "North Korea will soon give its declaration of nuclear programs to China." China is the host of the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, along with Russia, South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

Rice spoke in advance of her trip to Asia, where she will be attending a meeting of G-8 foreign ministers and meeting with her Asian counterparts.

North Korea conducted a weapons test in 2006 and is understood to have the capability of producing several more nuclear weapons.

North Korea missed an end-of-2007 deadline to turn over to the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea a full inventory of its programs and a description of its spread of nuclear technology to others.

Rice said that once North Korea submits its declaration, President Bush will notify Congress that he intends to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and scrap some sanctions levied against North Korea because of nuclear concerns.

But she noted that there would be no practical effect to loosening the restrictions because North Korea still was under the same sanctions because of other areas of U.S. law.

Rice said a 45-day review would begin to allow U.S. verification and assess whether Pyongyang was living up to its end of the deal struck in the six-party talks.

"Before those actions go into effect, we would continue to assess the level of North Korean cooperation in helping to verify the accuracy and completeness of its declaration," she said. "And if that cooperation is insufficient, we will respond accordingly."

More?

Rice: N. Korea to declare nuclear past - CNN.com

Sounds like progress is being made,time will tell.