NEW YORK/SEOUL/BEIJING -- A senior United Nations official embarked on a rare trip to North Korea on Tuesday amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's recent long-range missile test.
Jeffrey Feltman, undersecretary general for political affairs, will discuss "issues of mutual interest and concern" with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and others, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday. 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 UN," he told reporters, according to multiple news reports. "It will be a wide-ranging discussion."
Feltman's visit comes a week after North Korea test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile apparently capable of striking anywhere on the US 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, UN officials and the diplomatic corps there, the spokesman said.
Feltman boarded a North Korean Air Koryo flight for Pyongyang at Beijing's airport. He made no comment when asked by reporters for details about his trip.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un talking to soldiers during his visit to an artillery unit. (Yonhap)
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