North Korea: Government to send delegation to WEF meeting in Davos

A World Economic Forum official confirmed the North's participation in the conference, which takes place on Jan. 20-23, but did not have further details. A list of participants will be released on Jan. 13.

N.Korea digging tunnel at nuclear test site, possibly for future test
(Atimes)

North Korea will send a delegation to the World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland this month, the organisation said, a sign the isolated country sees international engagement as a way to bolster its economy.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Monday that North Korea's participation at the event in the town of Davos, which attracts heavyweights from the worlds of business and politics, would be its first in 18 years.

A World Economic Forum official confirmed the North's participation in the conference, which takes place on Jan. 20-23, but did not have further details. A list of participants will be released on Jan. 13.

Impoverished North Korea is under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes, and struggles to attract investment. It last sent a delegation to the forum in 1998, Yonhap said.

Yonhap said the North Korean delegation would be led by Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, who spent two decades in Switzerland as ambassador and representative at the United Nations in Geneva.

Ri acted as surrogate father to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when Kim was a student at a Swiss school.

Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, focused on development of the economy during a New Year's Day speech.

"We should concentrate all our efforts on building an economic giant to bring about a fresh turn in developing the country's economy and improving the people's standard of living," he said