A North Korean delegation headed by the country's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Myong Gil has landed in Stockholm, Sweden for denuclearization talks with the U.S., a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday Kim, speaking to Yonhap news agency at Beijing airport, said he and other officials were heading to Sweden.

"We're going for the DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations," Kim told reporters in Beijing, according to Yonhap. "There's been a new signal from the U.S. side, so we're going with great expectations and optimism about the outcome".