Key facts
- North Korea is expected to send a vice minister-level official to the U.N. General Assembly.
- Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong is the likely representative.
- The official is scheduled to deliver a speech on September 28.
- This is the first high-level delegation from North Korea to the assembly in seven years.
North Korea is anticipated to send a vice minister-level official to the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in New York this month, with Kim Son-gyong, a vice foreign minister overseeing international organizations, likely to represent the country and deliver a speech. The U.N. Secretariat's updated speaker list indicates a North Korean vice minister is scheduled to address the assembly on September 28, the final day of the high-level segment of the 81st U.N. General Assembly, which runs from September 22-26 and on September 28.
Diplomatic sources believe Kim Son-gyong is the probable attendee, given his portfolio and his leading of a North Korean delegation to the General Assembly last year. This marks a significant return to high-level participation, as Pyongyang had not sent a senior official to the General Assembly from 2019 through 2024, a period following the unsuccessful 2019 Hanoi summit between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. During those years, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N., Kim Song, delivered its General Assembly speeches.
Attention is expected to be drawn to the message North Korea will convey at the U.N. this year, particularly as President Trump has publicly stated his openness to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.