UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is reportedly scheduled to visit North Korea in the near future. The spokesman reiterated the UN Secretary-General was “willing to play any constructive role, including travelling” to North Korea, but made no further comment.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) at the newly built National Space Development General Satellite Control and Command Centre in Pyongyang May 3, 2015. If true, that would be a significant development.
The North Korean envoy vehemently criticized the motion, calling it a wounding denigration of North Korea authored by forces hostile to Pyongyang, and a product of political confrontation.
The South was apparently not aware of Ban’s planned trip.
President Park Geun-hye and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sign a commemorative photo of leaders at the G-20 Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, November 15.
North Korean Ambassador-at-large Ri Hung Sik told a news conference Tuesday that the government invited Zeid Raad al-Hussein to Pyongyang to follow up on “technical cooperation”.
The reclusive northeast Asian nation has been ruled by a single family since the creation of the Communist-aligned Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK – as the North is officially known – when Korea was partitioned in 1945 at the end of World War II.
Even if Ban is traveling in his official capacity, the visit could have important implications for inter-Korean ties. Analysts say his tour to the DPRK, if realized, would boost inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula. “The key point of discussion will have to be the United Nations sanctions on the North’s weapons of mass destruction program”, said Yoo Ho-yeol, an expert on the North at Korea University near Seoul.
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South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Monday that Mr Ban would visit Pyongyang in his official capacity later this week, though no precise dates were given. South Korea has proposed the “Eurasia Initiative” aimed at boosting interconnectivity across Eurasian trans-border transportation, logistics and energy networks.
