North Korea reported the arrival of a special U.N. envoy on the rights of people with disabilities in its capital Tuesday.

"Catalina Devandas Aguilar, U.N. special rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and her party arrived here Tuesday," the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch from Pyongyang.

Aguilar's office earlier said she will visit the reclusive North for six days starting May 3.

Her arrival marked the first-ever visit to the communist state by an envoy appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The special U.N. rapporteur was expected to hold discussions with North Korean officials in charge of protecting the disabled, her office has said.

North Korea signed the U.N. convention on the rights of persons with disabilities only late last year.

"My upcoming visit to the DPRK represents a key opportunity to learn firsthand about national realities, laws, policies and programs concerning people with disabilities, as well as the challenges and opportunities the government faces in implementing the convention," Aguilar has said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (Yonhap)