A new North Korean ambassador to the United Nations is likely to take his post before the UN General Assembly next week, with the US recently having issued a visa to the representative, local media reports said Wednesday.

In July, reports said that a North Korean Foreign Ministry official named Kim Song would replace Ja Song-nam as the North’s permanent representative to the UN, after UN sources claimed that Ja embarked on a trip to Pyongyang upon being dismissed from his post. 

Kim has yet to make an official appearance before the international community, with observers interpreting the delay as a result of the US withholding the issuing of a visa in the current stalemate in denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

Pyongyang requested a visa for Kim in May via the US Embassy in Beijing, Kyodo News reported at the time.

US-North Korea negotiations on Pyongyang’s denuclearization has been stalled for weeks, with both sides struggling to reach consensus on the issue. But they have also kept some momentum of dialogue alive, with Trump hailing North Korea’s “low-key, nuclear weapon-free” military parade on Sept. 9 as a positive sign.

The UN envoy post has been vacant since Ja was dismissed following a four-year tenure. The deputy ambassador to the UN has served as the charge d’affaires since.

According to reports, Kim Song was part of the North Korean mission to the UN in 2014 and has continued to work for the communist nation’s Foreign Ministry.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)