This seems to be reason for cautious optimism:

North Korea handed over its long-awaited nuclear program declaration to officials from China earlier Thursday, which led the six-nation talks that hammered out the conditions of the agreement.

The declaration is expected to contain details on North Korea’s plutonium stockpile. North Korea will also continue preparations to publicly dismantle a controversial nuclear reactor — key steps meant to ease international fears about nuclear activities in the Communist nation.

Bush said he will call for the lifting of sanctions against North Korea under the Trading with Enemy Act and notify Congress that he intends to take it off the terror list, a move that will take 45 days.

This certainly sounds like progress, but we’ve been down this road before. Only time will tell if these developments will lead to anything productive. Still, it is encouraging.