Talks ongoing over Ban's N.K. visit: U.N. official

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations continues to be in talks with North Korea over Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's possible visit to the communist country, a U.N. official said Monday. Last month, Ban confirmed a Yonhap report that he is planning a trip to the North. The plan has drawn keen attention as he's expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Talks are continuing," Kim Won-soo, the U.N. acting high representative for disarmament affairs, told reporters on the sidelines of a U.N. disarmament conference in Seoul. "We are still in talks, and (the visit) hasn't been decided yet." Kim has been a close aide to Ban, previously serving as special adviser and deputy chef de cabinet to the secretary-general. "We will let you know through our spokesman once there is progress," he added. Should Ban's trip be realized, he will be the third U.N. secretary-general to visit North Korea after Kurt Waldheim in 1979 and Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993. Both Waldheim and Boutros-Ghali met with North Korea's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, during their visits to Pyongyang. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, has repeatedly said that he will do everything possible to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. hague@yna.co.kr (END)