The United States said Wednesday that it hopes North Korea will keep its promise and disclose all its nuclear activities by the end of this year.

"We are hopeful that we will have the complete declaration provided by around the year end," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said.

North Korea is making progress in disabling its nuclear facility, Hill said.

U.S. President George W. Bush, in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last week, called on North Korea to disclose all its nuclear activities. The United States has insisted that North Korea has not so far explained the status of its nuclear program to U.S. satisfaction.

This was the first time for Bush to directly communicate with North Korea since he took office.

It is widely regarded that the letter marked an apparent shift of attitude by Bush toward North Korea, a country once he branded as one of the "axis of evil."

The six-party talks held in Beijing in February reached a nuclear deal, in which North Korea agreed to disable its nuclear reactor and declare all nuclear programs and facilities by the end of this year to pave the way for dismantlement next year.     

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)