Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who serves as Washington's chief nuclear envoy to the country, arrived in Pyongyang after several days of regional diplomacy in China, South Korea and Japan.
"We want to get the six-party process moving," Hill said in footage shot by APTN in Pyongyang upon his arrival there from South Korea.
He was referring to six-nation talks that involve North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States aimed at securing Pyongyang's denuclearization in exchange for the impoverished state receiving much needed economic and energy aid.
"We hope that we can make up for some of the time that we lost this spring and so I'm looking forward to good discussions about that," Hill added.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported Hill's arrival in a terse, one-line dispatch. State television made no mention of the trip on its evening broadcast.
Hill was to meet with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, his counterpart in the six-party talks, the State Department said. He was to return to South Korea on Friday.
The U.S. and North Korea have been at odds since the 1950-53 Korean War and do not have formal diplomatic relations. The highest-ranking U.S. official to ever visit North Korea was former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Hill's trip signaled the "right moment to do the full range of face-to-face consultations" with North Korea and to talk about moving the stalled process forward.
McCormack had no details of Hill's meetings. He said Kim had issued an invitation to Hill, who, he added, was carrying no letters or messages from President George W. Bush or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Hill's journey, the highest-level trip to the North by a U.S. official in more than 4-1/2 years, is the biggest sign among several in recent days suggesting that long-awaited progress could be imminent.
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