North Korea"s top nuclear negotiator plans...

The six-party talks came to a halt last April when North Korea walked out of negotiations in protest against the United Nations" condemnation of its missile tests. The North recently hinted that it was willing to return to the talks, but insisted it first negotiate directly with the United States to repair "hostile relations."

"I believe the dates for Kim [Kye-gwan]"s trip to the United States have already been set," a diplomatic source told Yonhap on the condition of anonymity.

The agency gave no exact dates of the visit by Kim, North Korea"s deputy foreign minister who represents the country at the six-party talks.

Kim is currently discussing the resumption of the six-party talks in China, which, along with Russia, Japan, South Korea and the United States, is trying to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

U.S. special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth said after his visit to the country in December that both sides "deepened mutual understanding

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