The United Nations Secretariat in New York City in October appointed the first ever Junior Professional Officer (JPO) from North Korea, a UN spokesperson has confirmed to NK News.

The appointment of the DPRK national to a JPO role in New York City is notable: civil servants from North Korea have historically been under-represented there.

“There is a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) from the DPRK working in the Department of Political Affairs (DPA)… the person is working at UN HQ in NY (and) he started in October,” Department of Political Affairs (DPA) spokesperson José Luis Díaz told NK News on