UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized his desire to solve the North Korean issue by maintaining a dialogue channel with Pyongyang at the Jeju Forum on Wednesday night, with his remarks stoking discussions of his political ambitions in South Korea.

Ban, who is widely spoken of as a potential presidential candidate of South Korea, reportedly tried to visit the North Korean cities Kaesong and Pyongyang several times last year but failed.

“I’ve kept talking with North Korea with my individual initiative as a secretary general. I’ve maintained an open dialogue channel between high-level officials,” Ban said on Wednesday at the conference held by senior