A senior United Nations official will visit North Korea this week to meet with officials there and discuss “issues of mutual interest and concern,” according to the UN.
Jeffrey Feltman, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, will be in Pyongyang from Tuesday to Friday, the organization announced.
The last UN official to visit North Korea was former Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos in October 2011, according to the UN. The last time an Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs visited the country was in February 2010.
Feltman’s visit is a response to a “long standing invitation” from Pyongyang authorities for policy dialogue with the UN, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a press conference Monday. Meetings have been confirmed with the country’s foreign minister, the vice minister and diplomatic colleagues, Dujarric said.
Feltman’s visit comes as international diplomacy has kicked into high gear following North Korea’s missile test last week. He is also expected to visit UN project sites and meet with members of the diplomatic corps, according to the UN.
