North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho departed Pyongyang on Monday for a pair of international meetings, including the UN General Assembly in New York, just days after North Korea's latest nuclear test.
Ri plans to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela and then go on to the UN General Assembly in New York.
It will be Ri's first time to attend the General Assembly as foreign minister. He was named to the post at a major ruling party congress held in May.
Previous North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong went twice, in 2014 and 2015. That marked a change after many years when North Korea did not send its foreign minister to the New York gathering.
North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test last Friday.