US experts will begin disabling nuclear facilities in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in about three weeks, the State Department said yesterday.

Following talks between a US expert team and DPRK officials in Pyongyang, deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, "Work to actually start the process of disablement could begin somewhere in the next three weeks or so."

"And in terms of next steps, what we would be looking for is a technical team to go out and help participate in that actual disablement."

The team would work with the DPRK "on the actual specific work of disablement" of the key Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the spokesman told reporters, adding Washington looks forward to that happening.

The first US expert team headed by Kim Sung, head of the US State Department's Korea desk, left Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, yesterday after one-week negotiations on disabling the nuclear facilities in the country.

"The trip is useful," Kim told mass media. He declined to provide any details of the talks.

A second US team will arrive in Pyongyang later this week for further negotiations on disabling the DPRK's atomic facilities, according to the US State Department.

The DPRK agreed earlier this month to disable key nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon complex and declare all other nuclear programs by the end of the year.