WASHINGTON -- "Some good, some bad, some ugly!" That was the way a senior Bush administration official summed up the just-completed third plenary session of the six-party talks in Beijing, aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. While other participants were reporting "substantial progress" -- and it was clear that Pyongyang (like Washington) had come to the meeting with a more cooperative attitude -- the two sides "remained far from an agreement."

Given past meetings, however, when the most that could be agreed upon was to meet again, it was encouraging that both Washington and Pyongyang put serious proposals on the table.

It's unlikely that either will accept the other's offer as stated, but forward progress now at least seems possible: Pyongyang agreed that its proposed "freeze for rewards" would be a first step toward dismantlement of all its nuclear weapons programs -- a consistent U.S. demand -- and the U.S. agreed that rewards could come early in the process, at least from the other parties. Seoul, Beijing, Moscow and even Tokyo seem amenable to front-loading some energy and economic assistance if a verifiable freeze process could be initiated.