North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong heads to New York for UN General Assembly
Kim Son-gyong departed Pyongyang for New York to join the 81st UN General Assembly and speak on the closing day of the General Debate.
North Korea's vice foreign minister, Kim Son-gyong, travelled from Pyongyang to New York with a delegation to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. He will take the floor on Monday, the closing day of the General Debate, where member states outline their positions on major issues. In the previous year's debate, Kim reiterated that the regime will never abandon its nuclear weapons program.
This visit ends a six-year period during which no minister-level officials were sent to the UN after the abortive Hanoi summit between Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump; the country's ambassador, Kim Song, had represented North Korea instead. Earlier delegations were led by former foreign ministers Ri Su-yong (2014-2015) and Ri Yong-ho (2016-2018). The Korean Central News Agency announced the departure but gave no further itinerary details.
Why it matters
The mission shows North Korea re-engaging at a higher diplomatic level in UN discussions.
How this story developed
- Sep 9 ASEAN leaders warn connectivity alone won’t bridge emerging AI divide
- Sep 16 The Malaysian government is consulting Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air about taking over AirAsia's domestic market share as the low-cost carrier faces financial strain.
- Sep 18 President Lee Jae Myung said South Korea and the United States are engaged in heated negotiations and consultations to align a Seoul-led investment initiative in America with both nations' interests.
- Sep 18 AirAsia announced a US$1 billion fundraising effort on the international debt market.
- Sep 20 India and Thailand met to assess accelerating the ASEAN‑India trade pact review.
- Sep 20 North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile into the East Sea, prompting reports from Japan and South Korea, while the UN nuclear watchdog's resolution was rejected.
- Sep 20 A second projectile was identified as an unidentified type rather than a short‑range ballistic missile.
- Sep 21 South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in New York for a trilateral discussion on economic and security issues.
- Sep 22 North Korean state media did not report the missile launches.
- Sep 22 The ministers released a joint statement reaffirming denuclearisation commitment and defence guarantees.
- Sep 23 South Korea has now selected the Encinal plant as the inaugural U.S. investment project.
In this story
Related stories
25 in this thread