DPRK says UN envoy expressed willingness to ease tensions

World
Europe

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman, who visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) this week, expressed willingness to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, DPRK's state media said on Saturday.

The announcement came amid rising tensions over the DRRK's missile and nuclear programs.

The DPRK also said in a statement carried by its official KCNA news agency that the UN envoy acknowledged the negative impact of sanctions on humanitarian aid to the DPRK.

Feltman, the highest-level UN official to visit the DPRK since 2012, was not immediately available for comment.

DPRK's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho meets with Jeffrey Feltman, UN political affairs chief, in Pyongyang, DPRK. /Reuters Photo

During the visit from Tuesday to Saturday, Feltman met with DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and had talks with a vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, according to KCNA.

"The United Nations expressed concerns over the heightened situation on the Korean Peninsula and expressed willingness to work on easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with the UN Charter which is based on international peace and security," KCNA said.

KCNA also noted the DPRK stood on the principle to ensure the peace of the Korean Peninsula and believed the fairness of the UN, however, from the DPRK's perspective the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula has resulted from the US's hostile policy.

The DPRK officials and Feltman agreed that his visit helped deepen understanding and that they decided to communicate regularly, KCNA added.

The DPRK is pursuing nuclear and missile weapons programs in defiance of UN sanctions and international condemnation.

On November 29, it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile which it said was it's most advanced yet, capable of reaching the mainland US.

The missile test prompted a US warning that the DPRK’s leadership would be “utterly destroyed” if war were to break out. The Pentagon has mounted repeated shows of force after the DPRK's tests.

Meanwhile, the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK) conducted large-scale military drills this week, which the DPRK said have made the outbreak of war "an established fact".

(With input from Reuters)

809km