North Korea has apparently agreed to informal dialogue with its partners in the six-party nuclear talks before the resumption of a formal round.

Japan's Mainichi Shimbun said Pyongyang expressed willingness to hold preliminary nuke talks to China's top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei when he visited earlier this week.

While meeting with a group of Japanese opposition lawmakers in Beijing, Wu said North Korea agreed to a one-on-one with the U.S. and then join an informal meeting of top representatives to the six-way talks.

The daily added that Wu will soon visit Seoul and Tokyo to discuss the matter in detail. However, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it is unaware of the planned trip.