North Korea has assured a visiting European Union delegation that it will implement a landmark nuclear deal and completely dismantle its weapons program.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has questioned whether North Korea will comply with a recent deal to disable its main nuclear complex in return for fuel oil.

The North Korean nuclear weapons deal reached this week in Beijing has provided momentum for the North and South Korea to resume high-level contacts. The two Koreas now plan a high-level exchange in the North Korean capital within weeks.

U.S. President George Bush is defending a deal aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

For the most part, international experts are praising the agreement reached in Beijing this week as a good first step toward ending North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs. It is the next, very daunting steps in the process that cause them concern.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Berlin Thursday an accord ending North Korea's nuclear program would lead to normal relations between the United States and Pyongyang. The chief U.S. negotiator to the Chinese-sponsored six-party nuclear talks held a two-day set of meetings with his North Korean counterpart in the German capital.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told President Bush that he has "some concerns" about a new U.S. law approving a bilateral nuclear deal.