N. Korea's vice FM leaves for New York to attend UN General Assembly

North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Son-gyong, has embarked on a journey to New York to participate in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to reports from state media on Wednesday. Kim's delegation set off from Pyongyang on Tuesday, though the details of his schedule remain undisclosed. The North Korean official is scheduled to address the Assembly on Monday, the concluding day of the General Debate, an annual high-level forum where representatives of U.N. member states articulate their perspectives on significant global concerns.

In his previous address at the 2020 General Debate, Kim reaffirmed Pyongyang's commitment to retaining its nuclear arsenal. Following the unsuccessful 2019 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, North Korea refrained from sending any minister-level officials for six consecutive years.

Instead, the nation's Ambassador to the U.N., Kim Song, assumed the role of the country's representative. In the past, North Korea's former Foreign Minister, Ri Su-yong, represented the nation from 2014 to 2015, succeeded by his successor, Ri Yong-ho, who served in the same capacity from 2016 to 2018.