North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan is visiting China. Kim arrived in Beijing Tuesday morning aboard the same Koryo Air flight as the head of the international department of China’s Communist Party, Wang Jiarui, who returned home after a four-day visit to North Korea.

Kim is reportedly accompanied by Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of the North's Foreign Ministry.

According to a diplomatic source in Beijing, the fact that Ri is accompanying Kim suggests a possibility that the North Korean vice foreign minister may attempt to meet with the U.S. The two officials could be seeking to fly to the U.S. or to a third country to meet U.S. officials.

Attention is being focused on Kim’s visit to China, following Wang’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Monday.

Kim Kye-kwan, North Korea’s chief delegate to the six-party nuclear talks, is also said to have a meeting planned with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei.