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North Korea condemned the UN Secretary General’s statement that said its nuclear program was a very clear and real danger. Photos/Illustrations
SEOUL – North Korea (North Korea) blasted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday for his recent description of Pyongyang’s nuclear program as a “clear and real danger”.
Military tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated sharply last year when North Korea conducted almost monthly tests of its sanctions-busting weapons, including firing its state-of-the-art intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also recently called for an “exponential” increase in Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal and new ICBMs to counter what he called hostility by the United States (US) and neighboring South Korea (South Korea).
Guterres told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it was Pyongyang’s responsibility to continue talks, which broke down in 2019 when nuclear negotiations between Kim Jong-un and then US president Donald Trump broke down in Hanoi.
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“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s unlawful nuclear weapons program is a clear and real danger, pushing geopolitical risks and tensions to new heights,” Guterres said at a Security Council meeting on the rule of law chaired by Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
In response to the UN Secretary General’s remarks, Pyongyang on Saturday evening released a statement accusing Guterres of having a distinctive double standard and carrying out dangerous actions that destroyed the trust of the world community in the UN.
The statement also said Guterres was ignoring the reckless weapons buildup by the US which is constantly bringing all manner of nuclear strikes to the Korean Peninsula and the region.
Reporting from Al Arabiya, Sunday (15/1/2023), the North Korean statement was attributed to Jo Chol-su, a senior official at Pyongyang’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Jo also accused Japan of not having the moral and legal qualifications to be part of the UN Security Council because of its wartime and colonial past.
