Kim Yong Chol, top envoy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived in Washington for a two-day visit on Thursday.
A plane from Beijing carrying Kim and his entourage touched down at Dulles International Airport, reported Yonhap News Agency. The envoy was greeted at the airport by Stephen Biegun, Washington's special representative for Pyongyang.
It's the first time that a DPRK government official has flown directly into the U.S. capital without any stopover in another U.S. city, said the report.
Kim is vice chairman of the DPRK's ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee.
According to CNN, Kim is expected to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Biegun on Friday. The group is expected to discuss the details of a proposed summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.
"A lot of positive things are happening," a White House spokesperson told CNN, without confirming anything.
"We are working to make progress on our goal of achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea (DPRK), and the president looks forward to meeting Chairman Kim again at their second summit at a place and time yet to be determined."
Republic of Korea's (ROK) official Yonhap News Agency also cited CNN's report.
China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Kim Yong Chol will make a stopover in Beijing.
"As far as I know, (he) will be stopping over in Beijing," Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing.
Kim Yong Chol last visited the U.S. in June, during which he personally delivered a letter from Kim Jong Un to Trump. The two met for two hours in the White House. Ten days after Kim Yong Chol's Washington visit, Kim Jong Un met Trump for the first time in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the ROK and the United States held a working-group meeting via video conference to discuss issues about the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, local media reported citing the ROK Foreign Ministry.
An unnamed official from the ministry was quoted as saying that the ROK-U.S. working group discussed pending issues, including the inter-Korean cooperation and relations between Seoul and Pyongyang and between Pyongyang and Washington, through video conference in the morning.
