Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill's trip came ahead of the expected resumption of six-nation talks next month following the resolution of a key financial dispute that had blocked progress.

The trip is Hill's first to North Korea, as well as the first by a US nuclear envoy since the latest crisis with the North over its nuclear development began in late 2002.

APTN footage showed Hill arriving at Pyongyang's airport in a small jet in a steady downpour. His five-member delegation was met by Ri Gun, the North's deputy nuclear negotiator.

"We want to get the six-party process moving," Hill, standing under an umbrella, said in the APTN film. "We hope that we can make up for some of the time that we lost this spring and so I'm looking forward to good discussions about that."

Hill and Ri were shown walking together and chatting in a friendly manner.

"We're all waiting for you," Ri said. In response, Hill said he "got the message on Monday and we had to work fast to find an airplane," suggesting the visit was hastily arranged and based on a North Korean invitation.

North Korea, which carried out its first nuclear test explosion in October, promised in a landmark agreement struck in February with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. that it would shut down its bomb-making nuclear reactor at Yongbyon by mid-April.

Progress was stalled by the financial dispute between Pyongyang and Washington involving $25 million in alleged North Korean illicit funds. That dispute was resolved in recent days, and although North Korea still hasn't shut the reactor, it invited U.N. monitors next week to discuss a shutdown.

Last year, North Korea openly invited Hill to visit the country, but Washington did not accept the offer.

"I think the US is trying to keep North Korea from dragging its feet any longer" now that the banking dispute is resolved, said Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University. "Unless something is done right now, North Korea could stall for time on another pretext."