UN secretary general to visit North Korea next week: Report

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea next Monday and stay for about four days, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, citing the North's official KCNA news agency.

The United Nations had no immediate comment.

The

Xinhua report citing KCNA said Ban's itinerary was now being confirmed.

On Monday, South Korea's

Yonhap news agency said Ban would visit the North Korean capital this week, citing an unnamed UN source.

The UN spokesman's office on Monday said it had no comment on the reported planned visit, but that Ban has always said he is ready to play a role to help dialogue and peace on the Korean peninsula.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The two Koreas in August held high-level talks to end a tense standoff at their border and try to improve ties, although there have been no follow-up meetings between the governments.