Washington  - The United States was dispatching a senior envoy to China for consultations following reports that North Korea has begun reassembling its main nuclear facility in violation of a disarmament agreement.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will depart Wednesday for Beijing for the discussion with his Chinese counterparts.

The North Koreans have begun "moving some equipment around" at the Yongbyon nuclear facility but it as unclear whether it was an effort to reconstitute its nuclear activities.

"What it means is the (disarmament) process is not moving forward at this point," McCormack said.

North Korea must still agree to a verification process called for in the six-nation deal to ensure Pyongyang's statements about it's previous nuclear work are accurate and that it is truly abandoning its nuclear programme, McCormack said.

"North Korea knows what it needs to do,. .." McCormack said. "It needs to complete work on the verification regime. And once those things are done, the process can move forward. We are prepared to fully meet our obligations as well."

North Korea suspended the process in August because Washington had not removed the Stalinist country from the State Department's terrorism blacklist. The United States maintains North Korea must first agree to a verification process before Pyongyang is removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

President George W Bush announced in June the United States will move to take North Korea off the list after the legally required 45- day waiting period ended in August. But the lack of the verification agreement has delayed that process. (dpa)