CNN has reported that North Korea destroyed the cooling tower of its main nuclear facility in Yongbyon on Friday around five p.m. Korean time.

Reporters from CNN and other news organizations were at the site, but the event was not broadcast live as planned, reportedly due to a lack of transmission equipment.

Sung Kim, director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Korean Affairs, was the only U.S. official present to witness the event.

The demolition came a day after North Korea submitted its nuclear declaration and the United States took steps to remove the North from its terrorism blacklist.

With the progress, the long-awaited resumption of six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea is likely to take place soon.

Top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said Friday that China has delivered North Korea's nuclear declaration to other members of the six-party talks, adding that the schedule for the next six-party talks will be decided soon.

A South Korean official also said he expects the multilateral talks to resume after the middle of next week.

If resumed, the six-party talks will discuss ways to verify the North's declaration and establish a monitoring system, while mapping out the next steps toward denuclearization.