A North Korean diplomat handling the nuclear issue and relations with the United States arrived in Beijing on Friday, multiple sources here said.

Choi Son-hui, deputy director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's American affairs bureau, was seen entering China in the morning through the Beijing international airport, they said.

It was not immediately confirmed whether she will be staying here or transferring to another country.

Choi is the first-known key North Korean official to travel abroad since the reclusive communist nation's Jan. 6 nuclear test.

She may have the mission of having consultations on the international community's push for a U.N. resolution to punish Pyongyang.

Choi served as deputy head of the North's delegation to the six-party nuclear talks. She was also in charge of translation in Pyongyang's major negotiations on its nuclear program.

Some observers say Choi seems to be effectively leading the North Korean foreign ministry's American affairs bureau these days.

A daughter of the North's former premier Choi Yong-rim, she is known to have studied in Austria, Malta, and China. (Yonhap)