U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he will visit the inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Gaeseong this week to help ease inter-Korean tensions.
  

"I reiterate my willingness to do whatever it takes to contribute to improving inter-Korean relations and promoting reconciliation and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Ban said during a press conference at the World Education Forum in Songdo, west of Seoul.
  

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, will be the first U.N. chief to visit the complex, which has been symbolic of inter-Korean reconciliation since its launch in 2004. He will also be the first U.N. chief to visit North Korea in more than 20 years.
  

"The Gaeseong project is a win-win model for both Koreas," he said. "It symbolizes a good way to tap the advantages of the Koreas in a complementary manner."
  

In Gaeseong, Ban said he plans to visit South Korean businesses operating at the complex and meet with North Korean workers there.
  

The visit comes as tensions have escalated on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and an ongoing row over wages for North Korean workers at the complex. (Yonhap)