Alwaght- North Korea has blamed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for praising sanctions imposed on Pyongyang to pressurize the country over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea’s U.N. mission said in a statement that Guterres had made “reckless remarks” during a speech last week to the Munich Security Conference.
“This is nothing but an absurd sophistry inappropriate to his duty as Secretary-General of the United Nations and only make us to think whether he is a kind of henchman who is representing the United States,” the North Korean U.N. mission said.
Guterres told the conference “It is important to note that the unity that the Security Council has been able to ... put, through sanctions, a very meaningful pressure over North Korea, and that pressure in my opinion is absolutely essential to be maintained.”
The North Korean U.N. mission asked Guterres to push the Security Council to welcome “the process of improved inter-Korean relations and discouraging neighboring countries from disturbing the process.”
Meanwhile, in a move that will further exacerbate Korea Peninsula tensions, the United States is due to announce its largest package of sanctions against North Korea to pressure the country into giving up its nuclear and missile programs. The provocative move by the US comes as South Korea readies itself for further talks with the North.
Tougher sanctions may jeopardize the latest detente between the two Koreas, illustrated by the North’s participation in the Winter Olympics in the South, amid preparations for talks about a possible summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened over the last year after increased provocations by the US which include military drills and deployment of warships and submarines in the region.
Pyongyang insists that developing its military defenses including nuclear weapons is important to counter incessant provocations by the US including a possible nuclear aggression.
