(CNN) Days before Kim Jong Un is set to meet US President Donald Trump in Singapore, the North Korean leader is revealing plans to meet yet another leader -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad will visit Kim in North Korea, the latter country's state news agency KCNA said Sunday. The report did not specify a date for the meeting, and Syrian state media has so far not reported on the planned visit.

If the meeting takes place in Pyongyang, it would be the first time a world leader has visited Kim in the capital.

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Trump has said he will meet with Kim on June 12 , and on Friday with a former North Korean spy chief -- the highest-level North Korean official to visit the US in 18 years.

Read More </s> UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an unknown location in North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” according to the report.

KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation. It was blacklisted by the Security Council in 2009 and described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria.

“The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers,” the U.N. experts wrote.

SSRC has overseen the country’s chemical weapons program since the 1970s.

The U.N. experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defense systems.

The North Korean and Syrian missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The experts said they were also investigating the use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in February.

North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. However, diplomats and weapons inspectors suspect Syria may have secretly maintained or developed a new chemical weapons capability.

During the country’s more than six-year long civil war the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said the banned nerve agent sarin has been used at least twice, while the use of chlorine as a weapon has been widespread. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. </s> North Korean state media on Wednesday reported that after the country's leader will hold a state visit in Vietnam later this week after his summit with United States President Donald Trump.

The Korean Central News Agency KCNA and the newspaper of the ruling Workers Party, the Rodong Sinmun provided in-depth coverage of Kim Jong-un's trip to Vietnam and as well as new details on his agenda, which had not been previously disclosed. </s> BACKAKRA, Sweden (AP) — The U.N. secretary-general and Security Council officials were meeting in Sweden on Saturday to discuss a range of international issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula and in Syria.

The annual informal working meeting is being hosted by the Swedish government on the farm estate of Dag Hammarskjold in Backakra in southern Sweden.

Hammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as the second U.N. secretary-general until he died in a plane crash in September 1961.

Talking to reporters before the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefly commented on North Korea’s announcement that it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests.

He said he was optimistic about North Korea’s decision, saying that “the path is open for the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said diplomats were “still deadlocked” over the issue of Syria.

The meeting comes just a week after France, Britain and the U.S. launched joint airstrikes at suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites, saying Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma.

Haley said she and the other diplomats welcomed a chance to get a break from normal routine.

“Retreats like this are very important for us to get away from New York sometimes and discuss these things in a way that we can really try and find a solution,” she said.

Guterres is set to stay in Sweden until Monday. </s> BACKAKRA, Sweden (AP) — The U.N. secretary-general and Security Council officials were meeting in Sweden on Saturday to discuss a range of international issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula and in Syria.

The annual informal working meeting is being hosted by the Swedish government on the farm estate of Dag Hammarskjold in Backakra in southern Sweden.

Hammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as the second U.N. secretary-general until he died in a plane crash in September 1961.

Talking to reporters before the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefly commented on North Korea's announcement that it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests.

He said he was optimistic about North Korea's decision, saying that "the path is open for the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said diplomats were "still deadlocked" over the issue of Syria.

The meeting comes just a week after France, Britain and the U.S. launched joint airstrikes at suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites, saying Syrian President Bashar Assad's government was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma.

Haley said she and the other diplomats welcomed a chance to get a break from normal routine.

"Retreats like this are very important for us to get away from New York sometimes and discuss these things in a way that we can really try and find a solution," she said.

Guterres is set to stay in Sweden until Monday. </s> FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang, North Korea. South Korea says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants Pope Francis to visit North Korea. South Korea’s presidential office in a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, said Kim told President Moon Jae-in during their summit last month that the pope would be “enthusiastically” welcomed in Pyongyang. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File) </s> BACKAKRA, Sweden — The U.N. secretary-general and Security Council officials were meeting in Sweden on Saturday to discuss a range of international issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula and in Syria.

The annual informal working meeting is being hosted by the Swedish government on the farm estate of Dag Hammarskjold in Backakra in southern Sweden.

Hammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as the second U.N. secretary-general until he died in a plane crash in September 1961.

Talking to reporters before the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefly commented on North Korea’s announcement that it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests.

He said he was optimistic about North Korea’s decision, saying that “the path is open for the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said diplomats were “still deadlocked” over the issue of Syria.

The meeting comes just a week after France, Britain and the U.S. launched joint airstrikes at suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites, saying Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma.

Haley said she and the other diplomats welcomed a chance to get a break from normal routine.

“Retreats like this are very important for us to get away from New York sometimes and discuss these things in a way that we can really try and find a solution,” she said.

Guterres is set to stay in Sweden until Monday. </s> A confidential United Nations report on North Korea’s violations of sanctions reveals Pyongyang sent shipments to a Syrian government agency that deals with chemical weapons.

The 37-page report, written by an independent panel of experts and submitted to the UN Security Council earlier this month, was seen by the Reuters news agency on Monday (August 21).

No details were provided on what the shipments contained, or when and/or where the interceptions took place.

The panel investigated reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and North Korea, according to the report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria,” the report stated. “Another member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.”

KOMID, the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, was sanctioned by the UNSC in 2009. It was described as North Korea’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. Two KOMID representatives in Syria were blacklisted by the Council in March 2016.

“The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers,” according to the report. Syria’s chemical weapons program has been operating under the auspices of the SSRC since the 1970s, according to Reuters.

The panel is also investigating cooperation between Syria and North Korea on Syrian Scud missile programs, and maintenance and repair of Syria’s surface-to-air missile defense systems.

Although Syria promised to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 in a deal brokered by the United States and Russia, it subsequently became clear that either some of its supplies were held back, or Damascus created a fresh supply. There is proof that regime forces fighting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad have used the banned sarin nerve gas at least twice against his own citizens, and chlorine has also been used as a weapon as well.

Israel is closely watching the military activity across its northern border as the Syrian civil war that completely fractured the country moves into its seventh year of conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the Black Sea resort of Sochi this week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss “events in the region” and specifically events taking place in Syria.

Israel has repeatedly underlined its unwillingness to accept a permanent role for Iran or its proxy, the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, along its northern border with Syria. Along with Russia, Syria has relied upon its allies, Iranian military officials, the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla fighters, to supports its forces. </s> UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile, and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” according to the report.
North Korean state news agency KCNA reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last Wednesday that he will visit Kim Jong-un in North Korea. The Syrian president's office refuses to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.