Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill arrived in Beijing to attend two working group sessions, on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, headed by China, and a Russia-led group on peace and security in Northeast Asia, taking place prior to the sixth round of the talks opening March 19.
The two groups have been established in line with a joint statement outlining the initial stage of denuclearization, which was adopted at the fifth round of talks February 13.
On Thursday, Hill is expected to meet with Mohamed ElBaradei who will fly to Beijing following his brief visit to Pyongyang to discuss the shutdown of North Korean nuclear facilities.
Japanese news agency Kyodo News said earlier that ElBaradei had failed to meet with top North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan but met with another deputy foreign minister.
Following the latest round of the six-nation talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff, Russia, the United States, South Korea and China agreed to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea, who in turn agreed to shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.
Besides the shutdown of the nuclear reactor, the denuclearization plan suggests the return of IAEA inspectors to the country.
In exchange for concessions by North Korea, Washington also pledged to strike North Korea off its list of countries sponsoring terrorism and to lift financial sanctions on Pyongyang.
Ahead of the next round, negotiators have set up five working groups to help the parties toward implementing the September 2005 agreement.
In September 2005, Pyongyang promised to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. The negotiations broke off later that year when Washington blocked the regime's $24 million account at a Macao bank over alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
They did not resume until December 2006, two months after North Korea reported carrying out its first nuclear test.
