( AFP )- The chief US negotiator on North Korea's nuclear disarmament arrived in Beijing Saturday, a US official said, as he tried to find a breakthrough in the deadlocked six-nation talks.
Christopher Hill arrived in the Chinese capital after a trip to Thailand, a US Embassy spokesman told AFP.
Hill said he would be meeting with Chinese officials during his stay, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.
"We're not sure if the North Koreans are coming, but I thought it was worth coming back," he said, according to Kyodo.
On Friday, Hill said before he left Bangkok there was a possibility of a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-Gwan.
"We had some very good discussions with the Chinese and I think there is an idea that we might try and arrange something this weekend before I go on to Vietnam, but I don't think we are ready to make any announcement," he told reporters in Thailand.
Hill was in Beijing towards the end of last month for talks Kim, but emerged from the meeting with no report of progress.
The pair failed to reach a breakthrough on the key point that has stalled the disarmament process, a complete declaration by North Korea of all its nuclear programmes.
Under a six-nation deal negotiated last year by the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, the North was supposed to disable its main atomic plants and list all its nuclear programmes by December 31.
Pyongyang has said it submitted a full list in November, but the United States insists it is still waiting for the complete declaration, including a full account of a suspected covert uranium enrichment programme.