Beijing ? North Korea’s nuclear envoy, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, came to Beijing on Tuesday as chief negotiators from China, the United States, South Korea and Japan were meeting to work out details on the next round of six-nation disarmament talks.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack has said that a meeting between the Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the American nuclear envoy, and Kim is “certainly an open possibility.”

Last month, an unannounced meeting between Hill and Kim in Beijing led to North Korea agreeing to return to six-party arms negotiations amid heightened tensions after its first nuclear test on Oct. 9.

Officials have yet to determine an exact date for the renewed negotiations, which have been stalled for more than a year. Russia is the sixth country involved.