North Korean envoy heads to UN General Assembly

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong has departed for New York to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, state media reported Wednesday.

A North Korean delegation, led by Kim, left Pyongyang on Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing details of his itinerary.

Kim is set to take the floor Monday, the closing day of the General Debate, the annual high-level session where UN member states lay out their positions on major international issues.

During last year's session, he used his address to reiterate Pyongyang's stance that it will never abandon its nuclear weapons.

Following the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, Pyongyang had not sent any minister-level officials for six years. North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song served as its representative instead.

Previously, former North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong attended the UN General Assembly from 2014 to 2015, and his successor, Ri Yong-ho, participated from 2016 to 2018.

Yonhap