U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Korean press that he and North Korea are still negotiating a time for him to visit the North, but that no details have been solidified yet.

While expressing his condolences over the passing of former South Korean President Kim Young-sam, Ban affirmed that he is committed to helping inter-Korean relations.

“At this moment, I have nothing new to say except what our spokesperson has already mentioned,” said Ban during a short interview with YTN TV.

“I am sure that many people are already aware of the fact that I would do anything, as the U.N. secretary general and also a citizen of South Korea, to lessen the tension between South Korea and North Korea.

“But there hasn’t been much progress made due to the recent circumstances in the inter-Korean relationship. It is true that North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong and I held meetings during his two visits to the U.N. to discuss the many different roles that the U.N. secretary general should play.”

Last week both South Korea’s Yonhap and China’s Xinhua news agencies reported that Ban would travel to North Korea this week. The secretary general’s office would deny this, however, and Ban indicated that it may be some time before any date is settled on.

“I know many are curious about the progress on this issue, but due to the sensitive characteristics of the subject, I urge all of you to wait patiently and see what is to come next.”

“Will you visit North Korea this year?” asked one of the reporters, but Ban, South Korea foreign minister from 2004-06, declined to answer and said he hasn’t heard from the North since Monday.

Eom Sang-yoon, North Korea researcher from the Sejong Institute emphasized that North Korea’s main interest in a future meeting with the U.N secretary general would be cancelling the passage of a U.N. resolution on North Korea’s human rights violations this year.

“On last Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly’s humanitarian committee voted in favor of a resolution condemning North Korea for violations of human rights,” said Eom.

“Should the resolution be passed again this year, it would be one more addition of a ‘bad nametag’ for the North Korean regime.”

Eom explained that North Korea would most likely start with the usual rhetoric of how much they have been showing positive gestures towards human rights issues and their recent release of detainees from North Korea, to emphasize how much effort they have been pouring into human rights issues.

Eom believes that further isolation from the rest of the world, prompted by this humanitarian resolution, would be one of biggest worries for young leader Kim Jong Un.

“When a similar resolution passed in 2014, North Korea reacted furiously toward the UN’s decision,” said Eom.

“This series of events and isolation would weaken Kim Jong Un’s hold on power in international society, so for sake of his regime’s position, North Korea’s main focus would be holding down the U.N. humanitarian resolution this year.”

Featured image: U.N. Photo/Evan Schneider Photo # 647413 “UN Secretary General and DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong”