UN chief briefs Congress on North Korea, Syria

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Congress on Wednesday afternoon to brief lawmakers on the U.N.'s response to the North Korea nuclear test and other hot spots.

Ban will meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee around 2:30 p.m. and the House Foreign Affairs Committee later in the afternoon, his spokesman told The Hill. He arrived in Washington on Wednesday morning and starts his day at 11 a.m. with a visit to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States and a meeting with OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza. 

Spokesman Martin Nesirky said the visit was “long-planned and very wide-ranging” and jointly initiated by the U.N. and Congress.

“The whole range of activities” will be discussed during the meetings on Capitol Hill, he said: “Syria, Mali, North Korea, climate change, relations between the U.S. and the U.N. itself.”

An aide for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said the UN chief meets with lawmakers about once every couple of years to hear their views. The last meeting was in March 2011.

"We expect Senators to discuss with the Secretary General the role the UN plays in facilitating resolutions to crises around  the globe," the aide said. "Today, more than 97,000 UN peacekeepers stand watch in 16 missions across the globe, often in difficult and dangerous places. The UN has played an essential role in helping to bring about the peaceful separation of Sudan and South Sudan; in helping to restore democracy in Cote d’Ivoire; in bringing life-saving vaccinations to children through UNICEF; and in helping to create food security through the Food and Agriculture Organization. 

"Senators will also likely discuss the role of the UN in Syria, Iran and North Korea. Yesterday, the UN Security Council condemned N Korea’s nuclear test and pledged to take additional measures against the country in the coming days."

Nesirky said the U.N. would put out readouts after the closed-door meetings. Ban is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department on Thursday.

The visit comes as the U.N. Security Council is debating new sanctions on North Korea following Monday's nuclear test. The world body is also trying to resolve the 23-month-old civil war in Syria, halt Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program and lay the groundwork for an international operation to retake northern Mali from Islamist militants.

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