North Korea Expected to Send Vice Foreign Minister to UN General Assembly

SEOUL/NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is expected to send a vice minister-level official to the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in New York, with Kim Son-gyong, a vice foreign minister in charge of international organizations, likely to deliver a speech, sources said Saturday.

According to the list of speakers updated by the U.N. Secretariat, a North Korean vice minister-level official is scheduled to represent the country and deliver a speech at the U.N. headquarters on Sept. 28, the final day of the high-level segment of the 81st U.N. General Assembly.

The general debate of this year's U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to take place from Sept. 22-26 and on Sept. 28.

North Korea has several vice foreign ministers, but diplomatic sources believe Kim, who is in charge of international organizations, is likely to attend, as he did last year.

Last year, Kim led a North Korean delegation to the General Assembly for the first time in seven years.

From 2019 through 2024, Pyongyang did not send a high-level official to the General Assembly following the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Instead, Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N., delivered its General Assembly speeches.

Attention is expected to focus on what message North Korea will deliver at the U.N. this year, as Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year.