WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Bush administration welcomed on Tuesday a landmark nuclear agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and meanwhile stressed more has to be done toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"We think it's a very important first step toward the denuclearization of North Korea and the Korean Peninsula," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Snow urged the DPRK to abide by the deal. "There's still the possibility of sanctions through the international community," he said.

Snow said the deal is stronger than previous deals with the DPRK because the United States is not the only party. Moreover, it does not remove the threat of economic sanctions that have been authorized by the United Nations.

"There is still a possibility of sanctions through the international community," Snow said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also welcomed the nuclear deal as a "good beginning" and stressed more work to be done.

"This is still the first quarter, there is still a lot of time to go on the clock. But the six parties have now taken a promising step in the right direction," she said.

The six-party talks, involving the United States, the DPRK, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, ended in Beijing on Tuesday with a joint statement on the first step toward the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Under the document, the DPRK will shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and invite back IAEA personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and verifications.

According to the document, the parties agreed to the provision of emergency energy assistance to the DPRK in the initial phase, and the assistance equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil will commence within 60 days.

For irreversibly disabling the nuclear facility and declaring all nuclear programs, the DPRK will eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid, according to the document.

U.S. media points out that if the DPRK goes through with its promise, they would be the first moves Pyongyang has made to scale back its atomic development since the six-party talks began in 2003.