A seven-member delegation of former U.S. government officials and private experts has returned to Beijing after a five-day trip to North Korea.

Jonathan Pollack, a China specialist at the U.S. Naval War College, said North Korea doesn't expect immediate progress in the six-nation talks on nuclear disarmament. He also said the communist country seems to prefer direct negotiations with the United States to the multilateral disarmament talks.

Another member of the delegation is Stephen Bosworth, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and now dean at the Fletcher School of diplomacy at Tufts University.

He said North Korea has signaled willingness to move ahead with denuclearization talks and downplayed reports that it may test-fire missiles.

Bosworth said North Korean officials neither confirmed nor denied any plans for a missile launch when the visiting delegation raised concern about the possibility of a missile test. But he did say the North Koreans assured them that there was no threat.

The U.S. delegation returned to Beijing on Saturday, wrapping up a five-day visit. It was the first such visit to Pyongyang since the launch of the Obama administration.