He said the North Korean official could hold discussions to restart dormant nuclear disarmament talks.

The visit of Kim Kye-gwan, seen by the outside world as the face of the secretive North´s nuclear diplomacy, comes as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week she was encouraged by signs that Pyongyang may soon end its year-long boycott of the disarmament-for-aid talks.

The North has come under pressure to return to six-party nuclear talks due to U.N. sanctions imposed after a May 2009 nuclear test that dealt a blow to its wobbly economy and a botched currency move late last year that sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.

There has been speculation in recent days in Japanese and South Korean media that the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may soon visit China, his state´s biggest benefactor.

His few previous visits to China have usually led to a decrease in tension in the economically powerful region.  China is the closest thing his impoverished state can claim as a major ally.