Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. intends to be ``heavily'' involved in ending North Korea's nuclear program as part of the six-nation agreement, chief negotiator Christopher Hill said.

An accord reached last week includes ``various parties, namely the U.S., participating very heavily in the issue of actual disablement,'' Hill said in New York yesterday. ``So we would anticipate having people on the ground,'' which is something the other parties need to study ``carefully.''

The U.S. government endorsed a statement drafted at talks in Beijing last week with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea, said Hill, the assistant secretary of state. He wouldn't disclose all of the document's contents, saying all parties must first agree to the draft.

Negotiators are trying to implement a February accord under which North Korea will end its nuclear program in return for 1 million tons of fuel oil or equivalent aid. North Korea in July shut its Yongbyon reactor, including a reprocessing plant which, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, produced enough plutonium to make several atomic weapons.

The talks are reaching a point that involves ``very serious implementation measures,'' Hill said. ``It's not just something on paper anymore.''

China will make the accord public once the other five governments agreed on the statement, he said.

``I'm confident that others will come to the conclusion that we came to after studying it very carefully,'' Hill said.

Specific Actions

The accord will lay out specific actions that would result in full disclosure and the disablement of North Korea's nuclear operations by the end of the year. The statement may outline steps toward normalizing relations, such as being removed from the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.

While getting a country off the terrorism list is ``something we always want to do,'' North Korea will have to meet certain terms to accomplish that goal and the two countries are working to agree on conditions, Hill said.

The disablement process would get under way ``in a matter of weeks,'' Hill said. The final stage of the process, such as a peace agreement to replace the armistice that ended the 1950- 1953 Korean War, will begin next year.

``What's very important for people to understand is that we're not in this for partial success,'' Hill said. ``We have to achieve full denuclearization.''

The statement agreed last week will lead to a meeting of foreign ministers for the six nations probably this month or in November, Hill said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net; Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 2, 2007 22:33 EDT