Lang's visit comes after the North said it had completed reprocessing spent fuel rods to produce more plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme -- a move which Washington said violated UN Security Council resolutions.

"We're going to Pyongyang on Monday with a willingness to start a dialogue... one that is as wide-ranging as possible... with the top leaders," Lang told AFP in an interview shortly after his arrival in Beijing.

Lang, a former Socialist culture minister and current lawmaker, described his November 9-13 visit as a "fact-finding mission to gather information, and impressions".

"I'm going into this visit in the spirit of dialogue and listening," he said, noting that he could not yet say who he would meet in Pyongyang as "nothing is set in stone".

When asked about the possibility of a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, Lang replied: "Our wish, expressed through various channels, is to meet the most senior leaders."

Lang said the establishment of diplomatic relations with North Korea and the nuclear issue would definitely be on the agenda, noting that France was the "only major European country" that had no formal ties with Pyongyang.

France is not part of six-nation talks on North Korea's disarmament -- that forum brings together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

But it is one of five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members.

Lang has already discussed North Korea's nuclear programme with senior US, Japanese and South Korean officials. In Beijing, he is due to see Chinese foreign ministry officials and Korea experts.

The North quit the six-party talks in April after the United Nations censured its long-range rocket launch. It conducted an atomic weapons test in May, the second since 2006.

Pyongyang has said it is ready to return to the multilateral forum but only if it is first granted bilateral talks with Washington.

Foreign Policy magazine reported this week, citing an unnamed US administration official, that the two sides had agreed to hold two rounds of bilateral talks before the North returns to the six-party negotiations.

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