Tag: Jeffrey Feltman

N. Korea agrees to communicate regularly with U.N. at various levels

2017/12/09

SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) — North Korea has agreed to communicate regularly with the United Nations at various levels, Pyongyang’s state media said Saturday, following a visit by a senior U.N. official.

North Korea said that the visit of Jeffrey Feltman, the undersecretary general for political affairs at the U.N., helped the communist nation and U.N. understand each other deeply, and the two sides agreed to have regular communications at various levels, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Feltman arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a four-day visit. He met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and visited U.N. project sites amid heightened tensions sparked by the North’s Nov. 29 test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile that it claims is capable of striking anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

The KCNA reported that North Korea told U.N. officials that current situation on the Korean Peninsula is due to the United States’ threat and its wish to launch a nuclear attack against North Korea first.

The U.N. officials responded that they will help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula by following the U.N. Charter, which states the organization’s mission of maintaining international peace and security, the KCNA added.

According to the KCNA, Feltman recognized international sanctions against North Korea are having a negative influence on humanitarian aid there. He visited a children’s food factory and a hospital in Pyongyang on Thursday.

Feltman was expected to leave Pyongyang on a North Korean Air Koryo passenger jet to land in Beijing on Saturday.

Jeffrey Feltman (C), U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, holds talks with North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-guk in Pyongyang on Dec. 6, 2017, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)Jeffrey Feltman (C), U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, holds talks with North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-guk in Pyongyang on Dec. 6, 2017, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

Senior U.N. official to visit North Korea: First time in six years

It would mark the first high-ranking visit by a U.N. official to North Korea since his predecessor Lynn Pascoe traveled to the North in February 2010 and former U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos went there in October 2011.

NEW YORK/SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) — A senior United Nations official will visit North Korea this week for “wide-ranging” discussions, a spokesman said Monday, amid heightened tensions over the regime’s latest missile test.

Jeffrey Feltman, undersecretary general for political affairs, will travel to Pyongyang Tuesday to discuss “issues of mutual interest and concern” with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and others, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. He plans to stay for four days.

“The visit is in response to a longstanding invitation from the authorities in Pyongyang for policy dialogue with the U.N.,” he told reporters, according to multiple news reports. “It will be a wide-ranging discussion.”

Feltman’s visit will come a week after North Korea test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile apparently capable of striking anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

The North declared that it has completed its “state nuclear force” with the latest Hwasong-15 test.

He will meet with North Korean government officials, U.N. officials and the diplomatic corps there, the spokesman said.

This photo, taken by AFP on Dec. 4, 2017, shows Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, who will visit North Korea this week. (Yonhap)

This photo, taken by AFP on Dec. 4, 2017, shows Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, who will visit North Korea this week. (Yonhap)

It would mark the first high-ranking visit by a U.N. official to North Korea since his predecessor Lynn Pascoe traveled to the North in February 2010 and former U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos went there in October 2011.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon planned to visit the now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea’s border city of Kaesong in May 2015, but the North abruptly canceled its approval for the trip.

Experts expect that Feltman’s visit may set the tone for Pyongyang to come to the negotiation table.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his willingness to serve as a mediator to resolve the problem of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

South Korea’s unification ministry also voiced hope that Feltman’s trip could help the North change its course.

“We hope that the visit can pave the way for North Korea to come to dialogue,” said a ministry official said, asking not to be named.