The pact, unveiled by China on Wednesday, was hailed by President George W. Bush as a commitment "to realize a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons" and "help secure the future peace and prosperity of the Northeast Asian region."

The United States, a nuclear weapons state, will lead and fund the disablement drive as Pyongyang makes a full declaration of its nuclear network by a December 31 deadline set by the agreement, officials said.

Christopher Hill, the top US nuclear envoy, said a team of experts would be dispatched to North Korea next week to launch the disablement process beginning at the key Yongbyon nuclear complex, the source of bomb-grade plutonium for Pyongyang, which conducted its first nuclear test a year ago.

"We hope that we can get them in early next week and they can begin the actual task of disablement," he told reporters.

"Our hope is that as we get to the end of this year, we will have (not) only shut down but also disabled (their nuclear program) such that if the North Koreans ever wanted to change their mind, it would be quite difficult to restart the program," he said.

The declare and disable agreement, reached between China, the United States, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan, is the second phase of a long-running denuclearization process aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.

North Korea had committed to provide "a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs, nuclear weapons programs, materials, and any proliferation activity," Bush said in a statement.

It "also committed not to transfer nuclear materials, technology, or know-how beyond its borders," said Bush, who is working hard to ensure that his administration's policy shift on "axis of evil" North Korea succeeds.

Recently leaked US intelligence had cited alleged atomic links between North Korea and Syria and said that Pyongyang may be helping the US arch rival build a nuclear weapons facility.

The reports, citing unnamed sources, were based on intelligence information apparently from an Israeli raid on targets inside Syria.

Washington for decades has accused North Korea of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation.

Under a February deal, North Korea agreed to end its nuclear weapons drive in return for energy aid and diplomatic and security guarantees.

It shut down its key Yongbyon nuclear reactor in July under the initial phase of the deal.

North Korea had previously shut down the Yongbyon reactor under a 1994 agreement clinched during the former administration of President Bill Clinton but withdrew from the pact after the Bush administration in 2002 accused it of developing a secret uranium enrichment program.

The North responded by throwing out weapons inspectors, leaving the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and resuming its atomic activities.

The agreement released Wednesday is "a significant step," said Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman.

"If we get this agreement implemented by the end of this year, it is pathbreaking and something which would not have occurred before," he said.

The final stage would involve dismantlement of the North Korean nuclear program and require North Korea to surrender all its fissile material and nuclear weapons, which experts see as an ambitious task.

"We do have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're not going to get there unless we get through the current phase," Hill said.

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