"We'd like to get full declaration of all nuclear facilities in a few months and disabling of the reactor by the end of the year," Christopher Hill told journalists in Tokyo, where he arrived for consultations on resuming denuclearization talks.
China reported Thursday that the next round of talks between North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - which began in 2003 when the Communist state pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - would start on July 18.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Agency (IAEA), said earlier in the week that the agency's inspectors would arrive in North Korea on Saturday to monitor the shutdown of its sole operating nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, which has been used by the reclusive country to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Mohammed ElBaradei said it was not known if the reactor could be shut down before the inspectors arrive. "We will verify that it has been sealed. Whether they seal it before or not, that is immaterial," he said during a visit to Seoul.
On Saturday, the impoverished state is expected to receive its first shipment of fuel oil from South Korea, Pyongyang's condition for shutting down the reactor. Under the February deal at the six-party talks, the North will receive 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil from its wealthier southern neighbor. The U.S., Russia and China are to supply another 950,000 metric tons later on.
The shutdown of the Yongbyon facilities would be the first phase of the disarmament deal, which also envisions other economic and diplomatic incentives for the North, which conducted its first nuclear bomb test in October 2006.
South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said earlier that the second phase includes the North providing information on all its nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment, to the IAEA.
