A South Korean source on North Korea says a high-ranking North Korean official discussed with a South Korean official the possibility of holding an inter-Korean summit before the North holds bilateral talks with the United States.

The source said on condition of anonymity that, while visiting Beijing, the head of North Korea’s United Front Department, Kim Yang-gon, met with a senior South Korean official. The source, however, did not disclose when and where the meeting took place.

The source also said the two Koreas were pursuing the issue with utmost secrecy, noting Kim’s party moved in taxicabs and civilian cars in Beijing and avoided using the North Korean embassy’s offices or cars.

Another source said Pyongyang was seeking the inter-Korean summit because it is in need of Seoul’s humanitarian aid amid the North’s economic difficulties due to the U.N. sanctions imposed after Pyongyang conducted a second nuclear test in May.