North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho was Thursday afternoon spotted at Beijing’s Capital International Airport, believed to be on his way to high-profile meetings in Vietnam and Syria.

Ri, who South Korean media report is accompanied by between five to six officials, was said to have been greeted at the airport by DPRK Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong and his staff.

Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, which has a bureau in the DPRK capital, reported that he was seen off at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport by Vietnam’s ambassador to North Korea Le Ba Binh and Syrian ambassador Tamman Suleiman.