A top UN official told senior North Korean figures there was an “urgent need” to keep channels open to avoid the risk of war, the organisation says.

The statement follows a visit to Pyongyang by Jeffrey Feltman, the highest-level trip by a UN official to the isolated nation in six years.

North Korea says it has agreed to regular communication with the UN.

Tensions over the North’s weapons programme were raised further after a fresh ballistic missile test last week.

North Korea said it was its most advanced missile yet, capable of reaching the continental US.

The test was the latest in a series of nuclear and missile tests conducted in defiance of UN sanctions.

South Korea and the US have meanwhile been carrying out large-scale military drills in a show of force.

BBC