UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea this week, South Korea’s news agency Yonhap reports.

Yonhap cited a senior UN source for its claim, which the United Nations has declined to comment on.

If it goes ahead, it will be the first visit by a UN chief to North Korea in more than two decades.

In May, North Korea abruptly canceled a visit by Ban Ki-moon just one day before he was due to arrive.

North Korea faces heavy UN, EU and US sanctions for its nuclear tests.

The report said it was likely Ban Ki-moon would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his trip. No exact date was given for the visit.

Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, would be only the third secretary general to ever visit North Korea.

The UN fought on the side of South Korea during the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 until 1953 and led to the division of the peninsula.