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.
If Ban made the trip, he would be the third UN secretary-general to visit North Korea after Kurt Waldheim in 1979 and Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993.