China gave prior notice to the United States on a high-profile North Korean envoy's trip this week to Beijing, according to a U.S. official Wednesday. The notification was seen as unusual for China, which has traditionally kept mum on its top-level diplomatic exchanges with its communist ally.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's special envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, flew into Beijing on Wednesday (local time), the first known visit by a top North Korean official to China this year.
Choe is one of the closest aides to Kim, serving as the director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army and a senior Workers' Party member.
"China did notify us in advance of the visit," State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell said at a press briefing.
He stressed Washington and Beijing both seek the elimination of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
"You do know that the U.S. and China -- that we're of the same view that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is essential if we're to move forward in any diplomatic process with North Korea,"
Ventrell said. "So we're very much in agreement with the Chinese on that, but I refer you to them (the Chinese) for more details on this visit."
The so-called G-2 are among five nations involved in now-suspended talks with North Korea aimed at dismantling its nuclear program. The other members are South Korea, Japan and Russia.
Many view Beijing's notification as signalling a change in its diplomacy style under the new leadership of Xi Jingping. China typically has kept secret its diplomatic activities especially involving North Korea.
The U.S. emphasized the significance of working with China and other nations in trying to resolve the North Korea issue.
"What's important is that all five parties share fundamental security interests in North Korea, including the paramount goal of verifiable denuclearization," Ventrell said.
Military tensions on the peninsula appear to have eased, although North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles in recent days.
The Pentagon said the atmosphere has improved since April, when Pyongyang issued threats to carry out nuclear attacks on the U.S. and South Korea.
The U.S. military launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile, the Minuteman III, from a California base earlier Wednesday, a month after it postponed the test flight amid concerns over North Korea's possible miscalculation.
But questions have been raised over the unity among the five countries in the six-party talks with North Korea after Japan dispatched its own high-level envoy to Pyongyang last week.
U.S. officials said they did not know beforehand about Japan's move, apparently intended to discuss the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.
"We stay closely in touch with all five members, and that's our focus, is on the denuclearization process," Ventrell said.
The U.S. also has a "channel communicating" with North Korea, he added, apparently in reference to the North's diplomatic mission to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the visiting North Korean envoy held talks with Wang Jiarui, head of the Communist Party's International Department, according to Pyongyang's official news agency, KCNA.
"Both sides exchanged views on matters of further improving the bilateral friendly relations at a new, higher stage," KCNA reported after the Choe-Wang meeting.
Observers say Choe's trip seems to be aimed at mending ties between Pyongyang and Beijing, seen as strained a bit due to the North's recent long-range rocket launch and nuclear test. It may be also related with a possible trip to China by the North's leader in the near future.
It came after the U.S. and China announced a plan for summit talks in California in early June.
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi, June 7-8 at a retreat in California.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye also plans to visit Beijing in late June, although no schedule has been fixed yet, according to her aides. (Yonhap News)
