朝鲜和联合国同意定期沟通

North Korea and the United Nations have agreed to communicate regularly.

KCNA, North Korea's state run news service, said Saturday this latest development is a result of a senior U.N. official's recent visit to the isolated nation.

Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N.'s undersecretary general for political affairs, visited North Korea this week, holding meetings with Foreign Minister Ri Yoing Ho and Vice Minister Pak Myong Guk.

State media said Feltman's visit "contributed to deepening the understanding between the DPRK and the U.N. Secretariat."

Feltman's visit came right after the U.S. and South Korea launched their biggest-ever, annual joint air exercises.

KCNA said Pyongyang considers the joint drills part of a U.S. "scheme to make a surprisingly preemptive nuclear strike" on North Korea.

The U.S. and South Korean exercises, however, came a week after North Korea test-fired a powerful new intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say is capable of reaching the U.S. The new ICBM is one of several missile tests conducted by Pyongyang -- along with a series of nuclear tests -- in defiance of international sanctions.

North Korea is also concerned about the effects international sanctions have had on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Feltman is the highest ranking U.N. official to visit North Korea since 2010. He flew to Beijing Saturday.