SEOUL: A senior Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) diplomat stopped in Beijing yesterday en route to the United States for a rare visit aimed at laying the groundwork for direct negotiations with Washington, news reports said.

The DPRK's deputy nuclear envoy, Ri Gun, told reporters at a Beijing airport he would "soon" go to the US, news agency Yonhap reported from Seoul. Ri is scheduled to stay in Beijing for a few days for talks with Chinese officials, the report said. The Republic of Korea's (ROK) YTN television network carried a similar report.

China's Foreign Ministry said it had no information about Ri's visit.