N. Korea's chief nuclear envoy to visit China this week

North Korea's chief nuclear envoy will visit Beijing this week for talks with senior Chinese officials, China's foreign ministry said Monday, a day after Pyongyang proposed high-level talks with Washington aimed at easing tensions and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

The North's veteran nuclear negotiator and first vice foreign minister, Kim Kye-gwan, plans to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui in Beijing on Wednesday for a "strategic dialogue," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters.

After months of provocations, including a third nuclear test and bellicose threats against South Korea and the U.S., North Korea has appeared to shift to dialogue in recent weeks. Pyongyang had proposed talks with Seoul, but the proposed inter-Korean dialogue collapsed last week due to a difference over the seniority level of chief representatives.