UN Official Responsible for Preventing Conflict Lands in North Korea

Jeffrey Feltman, the UN's under secretary general for political affairs, arrives at the Pyongyang International Airport on Dec. 5, 2017. Feltman's visit, the first by a UN diplomat of his rank since 2010, comes less than a week after North Korea said it test-fired a new ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States. KIM WON-JIN/AFP/Getty Images

The United Nations has dispatched its Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs to North Korea to ease tensions in an effort to stave off war on the Korean Peninsula. 

The United Nations has not been explicit about his mission in its official statements, claiming the under secretary, Jeffrey Feltman, is there to discuss “issues of mutual interest and concern.”