A US envoy has arrived in Beijing for talks with North Korea and China about North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Mr James Kelly, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs, was due to hold three days of meetings with North Korean and Chinese officials starting tomorrow, a US embassy spokesman said.
It is the first formal meeting between Pyongyong and Washington since the crisis erupted in October when Washington said North Korea had admitted having a covert nuclear programme. North Korea denies making such an admission.
Mr Kelly would meet meet Mr Li Gun, deputy director-general of US affairs at the North Korean Foreign Ministry, a spokesman said. Mr Fu Ying, head of Asian affairs at China's Foreign Ministry, would also take part, he added.
The United States wants to persuade North Koreans to end its nuclear programmes; the North wants assurances the United States will not attack it.
China's involvement in the trilateral talks was integral to bringing the sides to the negotiating table, but North Korea and the United States differ over what role it might play there.
Washington has said it wants China, the North's main ally, to be active; Pyongyang has said China is merely the host.