(3rd LD) N. Korea's vice FM arrives in New York to attend U.N. General Assembly

▲ North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York at 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2025 (local time). (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) NK vice FM-UN

(3rd LD) N. Korea's vice FM arrives in New York to attend U.N. General Assembly

(ATTN: UPDATES with details, photo; AMENDS headline; TRIMS)

By Park Boram

SEOUL/NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong has arrived in New York to attend the ongoing United Nations General Assembly, in what would be the North's first high-level attendance at the U.N. gathering in seven years.

A delegation led by Kim has departed Pyongyang for the 80th U.N. General Assembly, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) earlier said.

Kim arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11:45 p.m. Thursday (local time) on an Air China flight.　

Reporters waiting at the airport asked Kim whether he plans to hold bilateral talks with the U.S. side, but he left the airport in a vehicle from North Korea's mission to the U.S. without responding.

It marks the first time that North Korea has sent a high-level delegation to the U.N. General Assembly since 2019, when leader Kim Jong-un's last summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, ended without a deal.

From 2014 to 2018, North Korea's foreign minister -- first Ri Su-yong and later Ri Yong-ho -- attended the annual session.

Since then, Kim Song-gyong, North Korea's permanent representative to the U.N., has represented Pyongyang at the General Assembly.

The vice foreign minister is reportedly scheduled to deliver a speech Monday (local time), the final day of the general debate, marking the first address at the General Assembly by a North Korean official dispatched directly from Pyongyang in seven years.

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