U.S. sees way forward on N.Korea nuclear talks: Hill

TOKYO (Reuters) - The top U.S. negotiator for multilateral talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear program said on Tuesday he saw a way forward at the next meeting, but details on verification must still be clarified.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo ahead of the six-party talks, to be held in Beijing on Monday.

Discussions in China are expected to focus on getting a written agreement on how to verify what North Korea has disclosed about its nuclear programs.

In October, the United States removed North Korea from a terrorism blacklist and relaxed some trade sanctions in exchange for Pyongyang's agreement to verify declarations it had made about its atomic arms program.

"I think we have a way forward, but we have to see how the negotiations go at the six-party meeting," Hill told reporters at the airport before meeting Akitaka Saiki, Japan's top negotiator.

He later said verification details needed to be worked out.

Pyongyang's agreement with the United States needs to be approved by the remaining four nations at the multilateral talks -- China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Saiki echoed Hill's view on nailing down details of the verification measures.

"I think it is extremely important that the parties agree on and form a document with no room for misunderstandings on issues including the method of verification, as well as the facilities and plans that are subject to verification," he told reporters.

Hill said the United States was in sync with Japan and South Korea, despite Japan's criticism of Washington's move to remove Pyongyang from the terrorism blacklist.

Hill, Saiki and South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Kim Sook will meet in Tokyo on Wednesday to prepare for Monday's talks.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota, Editing by Dean Yates)