U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrives for a meeting with South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. AP

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will visit Beijing later this week to discuss the need to maintain international unity on North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday.

Biegun will be in the Chinese capital on Thursday and Friday following visits to Seoul and Tokyo, the department said in a brief statement.

He will "meet with (Chinese) officials to discuss the need to maintain international unity on North Korea," it said, indicating the U.S. official will urge Beijing to keep up sanctions pressure on Pyongyang.

On Monday, China and Russia proposed a draft United Nations resolution calling for the lifting of some sanctions on the North.

A State Department spokesperson called the proposal premature, saying the North is threatening to conduct an "escalated provocation" and refusing to meet to discuss denuclearization.