North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made a New Year nuclear threat towards the UK, but he's taken a more conciliatory approach to relations with South Korea.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters kicks off his international year with a crucial first meeting - he is among a select group of politicians summoned to find a diplomatic way through the North Korea crisis.

There has been controversy in the lead up to the US and Canadian convened meeting - Russia and China are not attending, meaning two of North Korea's most influential neighbours won't be at the table.

But 21 foreign ministers from other countries will be there - including Australia, Canada, France, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the US.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Winston Peters will join US and Canadian-led efforts on North Korea.

Eyebrows have been raised, however, over some of the other players - with Colombia and Greece reportedly sending representatives.

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The purpose of the Vancouver Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula is to exert diplomatic pressure on the rogue state.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un offered hope and threats in his New Year speech.

The Vancouver meeting is intended to "demonstrate international solidarity against North Korea's dangerous and illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs", according to official statements.

Peters says New Zealand wants North Korea to understand the importance the international community places on North Korea "returning to a meaningful dialogue on denuclearisation".

Given the select guest list - and the sensitivity surrounding it - New Zealand might also seem like a peripheral player. But there are some important reasons for our inclusion.

Last week New Zealand joined 17 countries in a Joint Statement pledging to enforce UN sanctions on North Korea.

These countries belong to the Proliferation Security Initiative, a global grouping that seeks to block shipments of materials used to make nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

According to a US state department spokesman, the invitation list is largely based on countries who are "UN command sending states" - or countries that sent combat support and or humanitarian aid to support the Republic of Korea during the Korean war.

But Peters also brings something extra to the table. He is one of the few western politicians to have struck up a personal relationship with the North Korean leadership. He made a rare trip behind the demilitarised zone in 2007 and has previously written about his insights from that trip.

Peters is cautious when asked about that relationship but confirms he has maintained his "connections" with the North Korean regime.

But he won't bite when asked if a return invitation is likely.

That is not something he can discuss at the moment, Peters says.

But finding a way to head off a mounting crisis is crucial, he says.

As tensions escalate between the US and North Korea, US president Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have traded personal insults.

In a speech to the United Nations last September, Trump vowed to "totally destroy North Korea" if it threatened the United States. Kim responded that he would deploy the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States, and called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard."

Tensions were further fuelled by an exchange between Kim and Trump over the size of their nuclear buttons.

The result has been a growing anxiety about North Korea among Americans. On Saturday a text alert that mistakenly warned of an incoming ballistic missile attack on Hawaii caused widespread panic - and sparked a big jump in the number of people searching Google for information on how to survive a nuclear war.

But Peters is cautious responding to questions about whether Trump's rhetoric has been unhelpful.

He is more concerned about the international community finding the right rhetoric to defuse a "very very worrying" situation, Peters says.

Beijing has been critical of the gathering, however, describing the absence of "important parties to the Korean peninsula nuclear issue" as hindering any effort to advance an appropriate resolution to the issue.