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‘N. Korea invited Ban Ki-moon’

November 17, 2015
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives for the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. The 2015 G-20 Leaders Summit is held near the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya on Nov. 15-16, 2015. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives for the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. The 2015 G-20 Leaders Summit is held near the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya on Nov. 15-16, 2015. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea appears to have invited U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the repressive country, and he accepted, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

Both sides have kept mum about media reports that Ban and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may meet in Pyongyang this week.

“The Kim regime appears to have invited the U.N. chief to speed up its efforts to escape international isolation following recent signs of a thaw in its strained ties with South Korea and China,” a source said.

If realized, Ban will be the first U.N. secretary-general to visit North Korea since Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993.

Pointing out that Ban’s second four-year term will expire in December 2016, the source said the rumored Pyongyang trip is likely to help him leave a legacy as the head of the U.N.

Other sources, however, warned that such a visit may trigger criticism in South Korea over Ban’s leadership if he fails to convince Kim to cooperate with the U.N. on denuclearization and improving its dire human rights record.

Ban, also a former foreign minister in South Korea, is seen as a potential presidential hopeful in the 2017 election despite his repeated denials.

“It’s likely North Korea will capitalize on a visit from Ban to underscore Kim’s position as an international leader,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “It’s also plausible to assume that North Korea has invited Ban to show the outside world that it must be respected on the international stage regarding talks over Pyongyang’s denuclearization.”

Kim has not met any world leaders since taking power in December 2011 following his father Kim Jong-il’s death.

With North Korea refusing to return to the table for denuclearization talks, the five other related parties — South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia — have sought to hold separate dialogues.

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University, agreed with Yang.

“It’s likely Ban and Kim will discuss Pyongyang’s U.N.-banned nuclear program and its state-perpetrated human rights violations if they meet,” Park said. “Their meeting may leave the impression that North Korea is willing to engage with the rest of the world beyond South Korea and China.”

However, Park speculated that a meeting between Ban and Kim will produce “no tangible results,” saying “such circumstances could work against Ban in South Korea.”

“Understanding the unpredictability of the North Korean regime, the rest of the world would focus on Ban’s visit and highly assess such an event if Kim does not listen to him,” Park said. “In South Korea, his opponents may raise questions over his leadership and mar his credibility if Ban runs for the 2017 election.”

Meanwhile, analysts said the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday may delay Ban’s visit to North Korea.

But they turned down speculation that North Korea may cancel Ban’s trip even if the U.N. votes against Pyongyang’s crimes against humanity in a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The U.N. General Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee plans to vote on whether to adopt a resolution condemning the North Korean leadership for its state-perpetrated human rights violations.

Previously, the authoritarian state abruptly called off Ban’s scheduled trip to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea in May. It was speculated at that time that Pyongyang was displeased with Ban commenting on its human rights record.