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North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong (centre

North Korea’s foreign minister arrived in New York on Apr. 20 to attend a signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement on climate change.

But with Washington stressing that it has no plans to meet with him, the chances of a senior-level bilateral meeting look dim.

Minister Ri Su-yong arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport around 2:30 pm that day, bypassing reporters and heading immediately to his accommodations in the city. Ri is reportedly scheduled to speak on Apr. 21 while attending a high-level meeting on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations headquarters. On Apr. 22, he is set to attend the signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement, also at the UN building. The event is for the signing of an agreement on a new climate response system reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties session (COP21) for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris last December, which Ri also attended.

Ri previously proposed signing a peace agreement with the US during a keynote speech at the UN General Assembly in Oct. 2015. The question now is what message he might send during this US visit. Another focus of attention is whether he meets with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and reiterates his proposal for a North Korea visit by Ban, which he also suggested during his October visit to the US.

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said there was “no expectation” that Secretary of State John Kerry would meet with Ri while attending the signing ceremony.

Kirby also said Washington would judge the possibility of future bilateral dialogue according to North Korea’s actions.

“What we want to see out of the North is a concerted effort and a willingness to commit to denuclearization on the peninsula and to stop the provocative activity which we continue to see,” he said.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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