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UN Secretary-General not going to Pyongyang next week

Previously, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Ban Ki-moon would arrive in Pyongyang on a visit on November 23 and stay there for about four days

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon AP Photo/Francisco Seco

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

© AP Photo/Francisco Seco

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UNITED NATIONS, November 18. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not go to Pyongyang next week, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Tuesday evening. Thus he refuted an earlier report by the North Korean Agency KCNA (Korean Central News Agency).

The statement released by the spokesman’s office said the UN Secretary-General will be in New York and then travel to Malta for the Commonwealth Summit, which starts on November 27. From there, he will travel to Paris for the UN summit on climate change, which begins on November 30.

"The Secretary-General will not be travelling to the DPRK next week," the spokesman said, using the short-form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The Secretary-General has repeatedly said that he is willing to play any constructive role, including travelling to the DPRK, in an effort to work for peace, stability and dialogue on the Korean Peninsula," Dujarric said.

Previously, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Ban Ki-moon would arrive in Pyongyang on a visit on November 23 and stay there for about four days, and that his itinerary was now being confirmed.

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