UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is discussing his visit to North Korea with Pyongyang.

During a meeting honoring foreign students held in Washington, the UN chief stressed the need for UN humanitarian support to North Korea as it suffers from a drought this year and more recently flood damage.

Ban also said he will have a chance to meet North Korean parliamentary leader Kim Yong-nam in Iran at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit and discuss establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.

On the South Korea-Japan conflict over the Dokdo islets, he called for the leaders of both countries to develop future-oriented bilateral relations.