UN envoy bound for North Korea
UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES —The United Nations has dispatched an envoy to North Korea for a rare visit aimed at defusing tensions over Pyongyang's intercontinental ballistic missile launch, as the US and South Korea began joint military exercises condemned by Kim Jong-Un's regime.
The unusual visit by Jeffrey Feltman, which begins Tuesday and runs to Friday, comes less than a week after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile believed capable of reaching the United States.
On Monday, the United States and South Korea launched their biggest-ever joint air exercise —maneuvers slammed by Pyongyang as an "all-out provocation."
The five-day Vigilant Ace drill involves 230 aircraft, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops, Seoul's air force said.
Pyongyang sent tensions soaring on the Korean Peninsula five days ago when it announced it had successfully test-fired a new ICBM, which it says brings the whole of the continental United States within range.
Analysts say it is unclear whether the missile survived re-entry into the earth's atmosphere or could successfully deliver a warhead to its target — key technological hurdles for Pyongyang.
A Cathay Pacific crew spotted what was "suspected to be the re-entry" of the missile as they flew from San Francisco to Hong Kong, the airline said.
In a separate message to staff, Cathay general manager Mark Hoey said the crew described seeing the missile "blow up and fall apart," The South China Morning Post reported.
The isolated and impoverished North has staged six increasingly powerful atomic tests since 2006 — most recently in September — which have rattled Washington and its key regional allies South Korea and Japan.
Pyongyang faces tough international sanctions as a result of its unwillingness to surrender its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Ahead of his visit to Pyongyang, Feltman — the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs — was in Beijing on Monday. China is Pyongyang's sole diplomatic and military ally.
Once in the North, Feltman will discuss "issues of mutual interest and concern" with officials, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding he was unable to say whether Feltman will meet with Kim.
It will be Feltman's first visit to North Korea since he took office five years ago, and the first by a UN under-secretarygeneral in more than seven years.
The UN envoy is planning to see foreign diplomats and UN workers in the North on humanitarian missions, Dujarric said.
In recent years, Pyongyang has accelerated its drive to bring together nuclear and missile technology capable of threatening the US, which it accuses of hostility.
US President Donald Trump has engaged in months of tit-for-tat rhetoric with Kim, pejoratively dubbing him "Little Rocket Man" and a "sick puppy."
Over the weekend, Pyongyang countered that Washington was "begging for nuclear war" as the North blasted the joint US-South Korean drills.