Christopher Hill is visiting South Korea for consultations before flying Monday to North Korea.

Hill said he would inspect work under way at its Yongbyon complex to disable three plutonium-producing nuclear plants, and would hold talks about the North's upcoming declaration of its nuclear programmes.

The declaration, and the next phase of denuclearisation, are expected to be key topics at a six-nation meeting of nuclear negotiators in Beijing. Dates have not been announced but reports say it will be held from December 6-8.

"I would like to have some discussions on how things look for the next phase because I don't want to do this job all my life," said Hill, an assistant secretary of state who has focused on North Korea since February 2005.

He was speaking to Unification Minister Lee Jae-Joung, who is in charge of Seoul's relations with Pyongyang, before holding private talks with him.

"I sort of have in mind that 2008 is about the time we should finish denuclearisation," Hill said.

But he added: "We cannot leave this job unfinished."

The US has said the North must hand over all of its plutonium stockpile and any atomic weapons, as well as accounting for a suspected secret highly enriched uranium (HEU) programme.

The North staged a nuclear test in October 2006, sparking international concern. But in November it began disabling the three plants under US supervision as part of a six-party pact reached in February.

The North reaffirmed Friday that it is committed to disabling the plants by year-end provided partners also keep their promises.

"The DPRK (North Korea) is honestly fulfilling its commitment to disable those facilities within the year according to the agreement reached at the six-party talks," said a report by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"It will follow the moves of the US and all other parties."

The agency was reporting a visit to Yongbyon on Wednesday by officials from the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

In return for energy aid, North Korea has agreed by December 31 to complete the disablement -- making the plants unusable for at least a year -- and to submit a declaration of all nuclear programmes and material.

"I hope to have a good declaration," Hill said.

Under the final phase of the pact the North should next year dismantle the plants and surrender its plutonium stockpile as well as any bombs.

If it does, the agreement envisages normalised relations with the United States and Japan, an end to economic sanctions and a peace treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

Hill said Thursday the disablement work so far had been "very successful" and he believed the North would also account for the HEU programme this year.

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