North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan will leave for the United States via China.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Kim’s arrival in Beijing on Tuesday.

Arriving at the city's Capital Airport, the envoy headed straight for the North Korean Embassy without answering questions, greeting reporters with a hand wave.

Pyongyang's chief negotiator to the six-party talks will leave for New York to take part in the working group meeting on normalizing U.S.-North Korean ties.

Kim is the first high-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States since U.S. President George W. Bush took office.