UN sports advisor visiting N. Korea at ist request

The special sports adviser to the United Nations secretary-general is visiting North Korea at the invitation of the communist country, a news report said Tuesday, pointing to Pyongyang`s efforts to promote sports diplomacy.

Wilfried Lemke, the special advisor on sport for development and peace to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is on a four-day visit to the North ending on Thursday at the request of the North Korean regime, Washington-based Radio Free Asia said, citing U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

del Buey said the special advisor will discuss ways to promote sports for women and disabled people, meet with high-ranking officials and tour sports facilities during the visit.

The North`s Korean Central News Agency reported a day earlier that Lemke toured the construction site for a ski resort near the Mt. Masik pass.

The country has repeatedly publicized the construction of the so-called Masikryong ski resort and pledged to finish it within this year.

The U.N. official also visited a newly built open-air ice rink, roller-skating rink and a sports park in Pyongyang, according to the North Korean report.

North Korea`s Western-educated leader Kim Jong-un has shown great interest in promoting sports in the reclusive country. In February, he invited former U.S. National Basketball Association player Dennis Rodman to the country in a bid to facilitate sports diplomacy.

Source: ANTARA