North Korean Delegation Attends Trump's UN Speech, Absent During President Lee Jae-myung's Address

It has been confirmed that a North Korean delegation was seated and watched U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22 (local time).

In contrast, they were absent during the speech by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.

On this day, the first day of the general debate for the high-level meetings of the 81st UN General Assembly, President Trump took the podium to speak as the second speaker in the morning.

Two North Korean diplomats listened to President Trump's speech inside the plenary hall.

Kim Song, North Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations, did not attend.

Subsequently, during President Lee's speech held in the afternoon, the North Korean side left their seats vacant and did not make an appearance.

The North Korean side also did not attend the plenary hall during President Lee's speech last year.

Meanwhile, it was found that the North Korean delegation moved their seats in the plenary hall to a location different from the one originally assigned by the UN.

Seats in the UN General Assembly plenary hall are assigned annually according to UN protocol.

A public drawing determines the country that will take the first seat, after which the remaining member states are filled in alphabetical order in English.

Accordingly, the original principle seat assigned to the North Korean delegation was the 10th row from the front in the leftmost section when viewed from the podium.

However, the North Korean delegation moved their seats on this day to the second row from the very back in the rightmost section.

It is reported that the North Korean delegation requested a change of seats in the plenary hall from the UN.

Normally, seat changes are sometimes made if there is a special request from a delegation.

The reason why the North Korean side changed their seats has not been confirmed.

However, given that the seats are located a considerable distance away from the South Korean delegation, observations suggest there may have been an intention to avoid contact with the South Korean delegation.

The South Korean delegation was placed in the 3rd row from the front in the third section from the right, near the center of the stage.

The North Korean delegation is scheduled to have Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong deliver a speech on the 28th during this UN General Assembly period.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.