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DPRK still mulling Ban's visit to Pyongyang

Xinhua, November 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Pyongyang is still under consideration and has not been confirmed, the official KCNA news agency said Tuesday.

The state-run news agency told Xinhua that the visit of the UN chief is still being confirmed and no more details are available as of now, but it did not deny Ban's likely trip to Pyongyang.

South Korean media said Ban in late September expressed his readiness to pay a visit to the north to the DPRK's Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, who was then in New York attending the 70th UN General Assembly.

It has been over 20 years since former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited the DPRK in 1993, if Ban's visit materializes.

Ban served as South Korea's minister of foreign affairs and trade before he started working as the UN head in 2007. Analysts say his tour to the DPRK, which is expected to include a meeting with top leader Kim Jong Un, will offer a boost to inter-Korean conciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula. The issue of nuclear weapons might also be discussed during the visit.

The two Koreas pledged to improve ties in a six-point agreement concluded after marathon negotiations following a military standoff in late August.

South Korean media also stirred up speculation that Ban's visit indicates part of his efforts to prepare for South Korea's presidential campaign in 2017.

Ban planned in May to visit Kaesong Industrial Complex, an industrial zone jointly operated by both Koreas, but the visit was later canceled due to a sudden withdrawal of approval from Pyongyang. Endi