The United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, will travel to North Korea on Tuesday for political talks.
It is an extremely rare move by the U.N. because it has been seven long years since a top diplomat from the global organization has visited North Korea.
Invited by North Korea to spend three days in Pyongyang, Feltman will engage in “policy dialogue” on a wide range of topics with senior DPRK officials.
Mr. Feltman will be meeting North Korea’s Foreign Minister and Vice President, but it is still not clear whether he will hold talks with North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un.
Mr. Feltman’s visit to North Korea has added significance because he is expected to travel to China as well as Japan, which covers the three most important countries in the region that play a crucial role in this geopolitical crisis.
He will be traveling to China to meet with the Deputy Foreign Minister, and then to Japan to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Meanwhile, U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley called for all countries to suspend diplomatic relations with North Korea at an emergency meeting of the Council last Wednesday.
But China and Russia have both rejected any further sanctions – which includes China stopping its crude oil trade with Pyongyang – and said that diplomatic efforts were called for.
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