A senior U.S. diplomat says the current stalemate with North Korea over its nuclear capabilities will be resolved soon.

North Korea announced last week it had stopped dismantling its main nuclear reactor and said it would rebuild it if the U.S. did not remove it from its list of terrorism-sponsoring nations.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the leading U.S. negotiator at the six-nation talks in Beijing, says he's confident Pyongyang will soon change its position, Voice of America reports.

Hill said Saturday that once North Korea agrees to an internationally recognized protocol by which its declared nuclear materials can be verified, Pyongyang will be removed from the list.

"The declaration without a protocol is really like just having one chopstick," he said. "You need two chopsticks if you're going to pick up anything."