A senior North Korean official in charge of US affairs embarked her Russia trip on Monday, Pyongyang's state media reported, amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's nuclear program.

Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department at North Korea's foreign ministry, plans to hold talks with Oleg Burmistrov, Russia's ambassador-at-large, in Moscow, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

It said that her trip was arranged at the invitation of Burmistrov who visited the North in late July.
 

A delegation led by Choe stopped at an airport in Vladivostok with the specific itinerary for her visit being not known, Japan's broadcaster NHK reported.

The visit comes amid heightened tensions sparked by North Korea's sixth nuclear test and exchanges of bellicose rhetoric between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.

Kim vowed to take the "highest-level" action against the US as Trump threatened to "totally destroy" the North if forced to defend itself and its allies from a North Korean attack.

Choe met with Russia's top envoy to Pyongyang Alexander Matsegora last week to discuss situations on the Korean Peninsula, Moscow's embassy in the North said.

Choe's visit is seen as part of Russia's attempts to play a bigger role in resolving North Korea's nuclear standoff. The UN Security Council implemented fresh sanctions last week over Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

Russia and China have long called for the resumption of dialogue to resolve North Korea's nuclear standoff. (Yonhap)