The meetings came as North Korea showed strong signs of commitment to its Feb. 13 pledge at international arms talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days in exchange for energy aid.

Pyongyang has already invited the chief U.N. nuclear inspector to visit to discuss verification of a shutdown of the reactor.

On Tuesday, the country’s main nuclear negotiator, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, headed for the United States for talks on following through on the landmark deal. Kim arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on his way to the U.S., the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

South Korea plans to focus this week’s Cabinet-level talks in Pyongyang on winning a firmer North Korean commitment to carry out the nuclear deal and on measures aimed at bringing permanent peace to their divided peninsula.

The chief South Korean delegate, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, praised the nuclear deal during an informal meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung.

“A good agreement was reached ... based on the principle of equality and balance,” Lee told Kwon during a 15-minute chat at his hotel in Pyongyang, according to pool reports.

Kwon did not respond to the comment, the reports said.

Later in the day, Lee told a welcoming dinner hosted by North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju that the two Koreas should get reconciliation projects back on track now that the “skein of thread that gave us a hard time last year” is being unwound, referring to the nuclear standoff.

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