A special envoy of Cuban President Raul Castro arrived Tuesday in North Korea, with attention focused on whether there will be a rare meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.
The arrival of Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa was confirmed at Pyongyang's international airport by Kyodo News, a day before North Korea is scheduled to convene its first parliamentary session of this year.
Valdes Mesa, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday.
Valdes Mesa was in Beijing to brief Chinese officials on the outcome of the Cuban party's congress, according to state media of the two countries.
If Kim meets with the vice president, it will mark his first known contact with a foreign political leader since October, when he held talks with the Communist Party of China's fifth-ranked leader, Liu Yunshan.
Kim has yet to travel overseas or meet any world leaders since inheriting power following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011.
North Korea and Cuba have close diplomatic ties dating back to 1960.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se visited Cuba in early June with the hope of strengthening bilateral relations, following last year's normalization of ties between Washington, Seoul's key ally, and Havana.
That was the first-ever visit to Cuba by a South Korean foreign minister.