The United States had given South Korea advance notice about its intel chief's visit to North Korea, emphasizing that the visit is strictly for humanitarian purposes and does not signal any policy changes toward Pyongyang, a Seoul official said Sunday.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, flew into Pyongyang and obtained the release of two Americans who had been held in the North for "anti-state" crimes and "hostile acts."

The South Korean official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Seoul was told of Clapper's trip ahead of time and had expressed its stance.

In the process of prior notification, the U.S. emphasized "hundreds of times" that the visit was for humanitarian reasons and that the U.S. policy toward the North has not changed, the official said.

"Sending a senior U.S. official to North Korea may raise speculation that the two countries have found a breakthrough in improving their relations, but I think that the (U.S.) shut out such speculation by sending someone who is in charge of intelligence," the official said, adding that policymaking and intelligence are separate functions in the U.S.

But he said it would also be "inappropriate" to conclude that there is no effect whatsoever on the relations from the visit. "We need to wait and see how it helps open up dialogue between North Korea and the U.S.," he said. (Yonhap)