North Korea handed over a long-delayed account of its nuclear work to Chinese officials Thursday, prompting the U.S. to lift some trade sanctions against the communist regime.
U.S. President George Bush, who once branded North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," said Thursday that he will lift the sanctions and remove the country from the U.S. terrorism blacklist.
Bush said it was only one step on a long road to getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
"We will trust you only to the extent you fulfill your promises," Bush said in the Rose Garden. "I'm pleased with the progress. I'm under no illusions. This is the first step. This isn't the end of the process. It is the beginning of the process."
Meanwhile, Bush's national security adviser was quick to remind the reporters that the sanctions being lifted were limited.
"I will tell you and the North Koreans understand that the degree of easing of sanctions is relatively minor," said Stephen Hadley. "North Korea remains one of the most sanctioned regimes."
Hadley said the U.S. could slap new sanctions or reassert the old ones if North Korea does not live up to its obligations.
James Carafano, of The Heritage Foundation, told CTV's Canada AM that the U.S. is involved in a chess game with the secretive regime.
"It's highly unlikely that the North Koreans have or will in the near future give us a clear declaration of all their nuclear activities," Carafano said Thursday from Washington. "Nor is it likely that the North Koreans still won't... backtrack on what they're doing."
Still, the declaration by North Korea fulfilled a key step in the country's denuclearization process.
To prove that they are serious, North Korea is planning to televise the destruction of a cooling tower at its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.
However, The Associated Press reports that the stunt has little practical meaning since the reactor has already been nearly disabled.
The North Korean declaration includes about 60 pages of documentation and is the result of negotiations between the regime and the U.S., Japan, South Korea, China and Russia.
With files from The Associated Press
