United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to visit Pyongyang this week, bolstering hopes for progress in inter-Korean relations, dpa quoted Yonhap News Agency Monday. The surprise trip will be Ban's first to North Korea as UN chief, and he is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the report said, citing a "high-level UN source." It was not clear when exactly the trip would occur, nor what prompted it, Yonhap said. Ban, who is from South Korea, would become the third UN head to visit Pyongyang in his official capacity, following Kurt Waldheim in 1979 and Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993, it said. -- SPA 10:58 LOCAL TIME 07:58 GMT تغريد
