United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea this week, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

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

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

In May, North Korea abruptly cancelled a visit by Mr Ban 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 he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Unduring his trip. No exact date was given for the visit.

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

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