A top North Korean diplomat handling the nation's nuclear diplomacy with the United States plans to visit Russia next week, a news report said Friday.
First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan will travel to Moscow on Thursday for discussions on ways to resume the six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, Russia's news agency Interfax said, quoting the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Kim has long been in charge of Pyongyang's bumpy negotiations on its nuclear program.
In the 1990s, the U.S. made a failed attempt to coax the communist action into abandoning its nuclear program in exchange for economic assistance. In 2006, the Bush administration launched the six-way format also involving South Korea, China and Japan.
The Beijing-based negotiations produced some agreements, but the North reneged on many of those with provocative steps.
The talks have been stalled since 2008.
The North is hoping for direct dialogue with the U.S., but the Obama administration has called on Pyongyang to first take steps toward denuclearization, including the return of international inspectors to its main nuclear site at Yongbyon.
Earlier this month, Kim visited Beijing for meetings with Wu Dawei, China's point man on Korea, and other senior officials.