A senior U.S. envoy has arrived in North Korea, on a trip aimed at speeding the disabling of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea said Tuesday that the State Department's top Korean specialist, Sung Kim, crossed at the border village of Panmunjom. He is due to return Wednesday to South Korea, before heading back to Washington Thursday.

Coinciding with Kim's visit, North Korea released a statement today reaffirming its opposition to terrorism.

The Stalinist state is pressing for its removal from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in return for its efforts to shut down its nuclear weapons programs.

The U.S. envoy arrived in Seoul Monday and met with Chinese and South Korean officials before heading to North Korea.

Ahead of his arrival, North Korean state media carried a statement from the country's military, criticizing a recent agreement between Washington and Seoul to cancel U.S. troop cuts in South Korea.

Also beginning Tuesday, a six-party economic and energy working group will meet in the South Korean capital and the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom.

Six-nation nuclear talks stalled after Pyongyang failed to meet an end-of-the-year deadline to declare its nuclear programs, activities and stockpiles.

The disabling of North Korea's Yongbyon reactor complex also was supposed to be completed by the end of last year. But the process was slowed by technical problems, and because North Korea said fuel deliveries promised by the United States and others were behind schedule.

The U.S. State Department said Friday that fuel shipments to North Korea are in the process of being completed.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and.