Politics
08:06, 23-Feb-2018
DPRK calls UN chief 'henchman' of US over sanctions call
["china"]
Share
Copied
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has hit out at UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for backing sanctions against the country and suggested he may be a "henchman" acting for the United States.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last week, Guterres praised the Security Council for succeeding in putting "through sanctions a very meaningful pressure" on the DPRK that he said had to be maintained.
The DPRK's mission to the United Nations released a statement that deemed the remarks as "reckless" and "ill-minded."
"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," said the statement.
US Vice President Mike Pence (R) and DPRK's Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games on February 9, 2018. /VCG Photo
US Vice President Mike Pence (R) and DPRK's Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games on February 9, 2018. /VCG Photo
The DPRK argued that the United States was at fault for the crisis on the Korean Peninsula and that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests were a legitimate form of self-defense.
The mission urged the UN chief "refrain from his behavior acts like somnambulist any further."
Led by the United States, the Security Council last year imposed three new sets of sanctions on the DPRK aimed at piling pressure on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile tests.
The economic measures are aimed at cutting off revenue to Pyongyang's military programs.
During a visit to South Korea this month, Guterres met briefly with DPRK's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam and urged dialogue to address the crisis.
The UN chief has been a strong supporter of the thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Seoul during the Olympics, which he maintains could provide the basis for a broader dialogue.
In December, Guterres dispatched UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman to Pyongyang for talks, but the envoy came back with no commitment from the DPRK to hold negotiations on the nuclear standoff.
Source(s): AFP