North Korea to make Munich Security Conference debut in 2020

North Korea will send a delegation to the Munich Security Conference for the first time in the 56-year history of the top diplomatic gathering, organizers said Thursday.

An MSC spokesperson confirmed that North Korean vice foreign minister Kim Son-gyong would attend next month's event.

The announcement comes a month after Pyongyang declared it was abandoning moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

The self-imposed ban on tests had been the centerpiece of two years of nuclear diplomacy between the US and North Korea, including three meetings between the two countries' leaders Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Also expected to attend the Munich talks this year are US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

The Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is likewise expected to attend.

Founded in 1963, the Munich Security Conference hosts hundreds of high-ranking officials and dozens of world leaders each year to discuss security challenges.

The 2020 edition will be held from February 14 to 16.

The program and full list of participants is to be published in the coming weeks. (AFP)