A United Nations official says a North Korean Cabinet minister will attend a meeting for a U.N.-backed international economic cooperation program to be held next week in Changchun, China.

The U.N.'s resident coordinator in China, Khalid Malik, said Thursday that North Korean Finance Minister Mun Il-bong is scheduled to join delegates from South Korea, China, Russia and Mongolia in the one-day meeting of the Tumen River Area Development Program next Friday.

The Tumen River Area Development Program, launched in 1992, calls for the development of an international port and free trade and investment zone in the Tumen River region, the point of convergence of North Korean, Chinese and Russian borders.