North Korea has been pressing to secure a position at U.N. headquarters in New York for one of its officials through the world body's work program, multiple U.N. sources familiar with the matter told Kyodo News on Saturday.

Washington and Tokyo have expressed serious concerns about the possibility, arguing that if a North Korean official secured a U.N. job within the Department of Political Affairs, for example, the official could be privy to confidential information that could advance the isolated country's national interests.

The current head of the department, American Jeffrey Feltman, is responsible for briefing members of the U.N. Security Council when an emergency meeting on North Korea is convened. A number of such meetings have taken place this year as a result of a spate of ballistic missile tests carried out by the North.