SEOUL, South Korea — The United States plans to review its ban on American travel to North Korea to help facilitate humanitarian aid shipments to the isolated country, Washington’s top envoy to the North said on Wednesday.

The remarks from Stephen Biegun, the State Department’s special representative for North Korea, indicated that Washington was easing some of its “maximum” pressure on North Korea to break a prolonged stalemate in talks on denuclearizing the North.

North Korea has insisted that its negotiations with the United States will make no headway unless Washington first eases sanctions. It remained unclear whether the lifting of the travel ban and humanitarian aid deliveries will be enough for the North to make a major concession toward denuclearization.

“I’ll be sitting down with American aid groups early in the new year to discuss how we can better ensure the delivery of appropriate assistance,” Mr. Biegun told reporters at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul, according to Reuters. Mr. Biegun made the remarks after he arrived for four days of meetings with South Korean officials.