Top US negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning to participate in a meeting which gathers chief delegates to the six-party talks.

"We've got a lot of work to do, and we've got a lot of catching-up to do," Hill said upon arrival at the airport.

He said he will hold bilateral meetings with North Korea side later Tuesday, and probably bilateral meetings with the Russian side the same day and the Japanese tomorrow morning.

The two-day meeting of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is planned to start in Beijing on July 18, during which the chief delegates are expected to discuss issues related to the initial actions for denuclearization and explore arrangements of steps that will follow.

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed on Monday that North Korea has shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which marked a step towards the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.

Under the Feb 13 agreement reached during the six-party talks, North Korea pledged to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in the first phase in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

The six sides are scheduled to hold a meeting of foreign ministers after implementing the initial steps, according to the agreement.

"We'll have a ministerial, but we've got to work on the timing and then work on exactly what we're going to do," Hill said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2007)