Yonhap, quoting another unidentified United Nations source, said Ban is expected to meet Kim because it’s unlikely for the secretary general to visit a United Nations member state without meeting the country’s leader.
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If Ban made the trip, it will be his first visit to the DPRK as the United Nations chief, and he would be the third United Nations secretary-general to visit the DPRK after Kurt Waldheim in 1979 and Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993. Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to comment on the Yonhap report.
“It is a positive opportunity for the North to showcase its leader Kim Jong Un appearing with a world figure as a national leader”, Yoo said.
Sources in North Korea have said even high-ranking officials are vulnerable to ongoing shake-ups that have led to the purge of former Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol and the disappearance of Workers’ Party Secretary Choe Ryong Hae.
Ban, who is South Korean, had to cancel plans to visit North Korea in May after Pyongyang retracted its approval for the trip at the last minute without explanation.
South Korea stated Monday it was “intently watching” for any indicators of an imminent North Korean missile test after Pyongyang reportedly issued a no-sail zone off its east coast. Analysts in Seoul said at the time that Pyongyang may have scrapped the trip because it felt Ban would back only the views of Washington and Seoul.
Worldwide atomic disarmament talks with North Korea have been delayed since early 2009.
The Japanese government also said it had received no official warning.
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The South was apparently not aware of Ban’s planned trip.
