A Japanese daily says North Korea is expected to set a timetable for its return to the six-party nuclear dialogue when U.S. special representative for North Korea Stephen Bosworth visits Pyongyang on December eighth.

The Sankei Shimbun daily quoted several Tokyo officials who were contacted by the U.S. government as saying that North Korea has expressed such intent to the U.S.

A Japanese foreign ministry official says that a detailed schedule for North Korea's return to the six-way talks has yet to be established but that the North is expected to reward the U.S. for agreeing to accept Pyongyang’s eager desire for bilateral talks.

The last top U.S. official to have made a trip to Pyongyang was Christopher Hill in October last year. Bosworth will be the first senior official of the Obama administration to visit the communist state.