US negotiator Hill set for Asia trip on North Korea

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. chief negotiator for North Korean nuclear talks will visit Japan and South Korea ahead of six-party talks in Beijing early in December, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill will leave on Tuesday for Tokyo and then go to Seoul, said the official, who asked not to be named as the trip had not been officially announced.

Hill's next stop will be Beijing where negotiators from North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China are expected to assess Pyongyang's denuclearization progress.

U.S. nuclear experts have been in North Korea for the past few weeks to disable the Yongbyon reactor by the end of the year.

North Korea closed down its main nuclear reactor in July under a February six-way deal.

In exchange for disabling its plutonium production facilities, the impoverished North will receive 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid. The United States will also move towards taking North Korea off a U.S. terrorism blacklist. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by John O'Callaghan)