US envoy Mr James Kelly talked with North Korea's chief ally China this morning after President George W. Bush held out the prospect of aid for Pyongyang if scraps its nuclear programs.
As intense diplomacy to resolve the three-month-old standoff moved into overdrive, Mr Kelly met officials including Chinese vice-foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
But Washington's senior diplomat for Asia declined to say what he might ask Beijing to do or whether the US would offer the security guarantee or incentives Pyongyang wants in exchange for renouncing its nuclear ambitions.
"I'm very reassured we have to keep talking with each other to make sure things come out in the best possible way. That's why I'm making this very visit to Beijing," Mr Kelly told reporters before heading behind closed doors.
"It's just an occasion to work with respective colleagues on problems that concern all of us. There's no substitute for communication."
China is considered neighbouring North Korea's closest ally and while vague about its efforts to ease the situation, Beijing has offered to host any resumed dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
Mr Kelly's stop in China is a crucial phase of his ongoing Asian tour as developments point to a softening of North Korea and the US's hardline positions.
The race to end the crisis gathered pace after Russia said it would send a top envoy to the North while an Australian delegation spent its second day in the isolated state - the first mission by a Western nation since the nuclear standoff erupted in October.
South Korea said it was cautiously optimistic after Mr Bush said he was pondering reviving an aid scheme if North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il dismantled his atomic threat.
AFP