North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday criticized the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent comment on his support for the country’s complete denuclearization, calling the remarks lacking in impartiality and fairness.
North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, released a statement from the ministry after Guterres on Friday said he fully supports efforts to completely denuclearize North Korea when he met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
“I cannot but express deep regret over the said remarks of the UN secretary-general that grossly lack impartiality and fairness and go against the obligations of his duty, specified in the UN Charter, as regards the issue of the Korean peninsula,” North Korean Vice Minister for International Organizations Kim Son-gyong said in a statement.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kim added that a UN secretary-general should not request or accept orders from the government of a specific country, and refrain from committing any act that might impair his or her position as an international official.
Kim said that North Korea’s “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” was “an infringement upon the sovereignty” of the country.
“It demands the unilateral disarmament, and Secretary-General Guterres perhaps knows well that the [North Korea] has totally rejected it without any toleration,” Kim said, adding that Guterres should be careful when uttering “dangerous words” amid the acute situation on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has test fired a record number of missiles this year, and officials in Seoul and Washington have said that it is preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017, amid stalled denuclearization talks.
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