North Korea is sending a high-level delegation to the United Nations General Assembly’s annual meeting for the first time in several years.
The country’s vice foreign minister, Kim Son-gyong, is expected to speak on Monday at the gathering. He arrived in New York on Thursday, according to South Korean news media, which showed video of his arrival.
The last time North Korea sent officials from Pyongyang, the capital, to the meeting was in 2018, a year before direct diplomacy between its leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Trump collapsed. The country also keeps a mission in the United Nations, whose chief represents the country at the General Assembly when there is no delegate from the capital.
Since Mr. Trump was re-elected, he and the North Korean leader have spoken warmly about each other. On Sunday, Mr. Kim, the leader, said he was willing to reopen dialogue with the United States as long as Washington stopped insisting on his country’s denuclearization.
Mr. Kim has been relentless in bulking up his weapons arsenal in recent years. He appears to have acquired enough nuclear weapons to guarantee the survival of his regime, President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea said on Thursday.
Mr. Lee also said that North Korea was getting close to being able to target the mainland United States with nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea.
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