The annual UN General Assembly is underway in New York, bringing together world leaders and diplomats from 193 member states.
But the foreign minister of North Korea isn't there.
Our Kim Mok-yeon has this story.
World leaders gathered in New York on Tuesday for the United Nations General Assembly.
The main event of the session, the general debate, will run from September 24th to the 30th, with nearly 200 representatives from around the world taking to the floor to deliver their speeches.
Following the UN tradition, Brazil will be the first to speak, followed by host country the United States.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has attended the event for each of the past three years, is scheduled to speak on the first day of the debate.
He is expected to bring up the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and call for combined efforts to achieve lasting peace.
President Moon is also scheduled to hold separate talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the session.
For North Korea, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, who has also attended the event in previous sessions, will not show up this year.
Instead, the country's Ambassador to the UN Kim Song, will represent Pyeongyang on the last day.
With the stalled denuclearization talks between the U.S and North Korea, attention is focused on what the representatives of the two countries will say.
Another hot potato during the session is whether the leaders of the U.S. and Iran will sit down for talks, as tensions have been escalating following major attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, which Washington blamed on Iran.
Alongside the general debate, high level meetings are set to be held throughout the session to discuss climate change and accelerate progress on sustainable development, aimed at securing healthy, peaceful and prosperous lives for all.
Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.