The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Narita

The chief US negotiator with North Korea said Wednesday he hoped to verify that the communist state was disabling its nuclear reactor on schedule when he pays a rare visit next week.

Christopher Hill, arriving in Japan at the start of his tour of Asia, also said that another round of six-nation talks on North Korea was possible next week to move ahead on a disarmament deal. Hill is due to visit North Korea starting Monday to meet with officials and visit the Yongbyon reactor, which was the source of plutonium used in the North Korea's first-ever atomic test in October 2006. "I've been talking about Yongbyon for months and years, so I'd like to see the place myself," Hill, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told reporters at Narita airport near Tokyo. "I know the disabling is going according to schedule, but I would like to have the opportunity to see it myself," he said. North Korea agreed in a six-nation deal in February to end its nuclear drive in exchange for badly needed fuel and security guarantees.