New York: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to visit North Korea this week, the first such visit by a UN chief in more than 20 years, South Korea's Yonhap reported.

The news agency said Ban would visit in his official capacity later this week, citing an unidentified high-level UN source. Precise dates was not clear. Xinhua called on Sunday evening the UN Spokesperson's Office for confirmation, but it said there was no comment at the moment.