U.N. chief says onus on North Korea

United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the
onus is on North Korea to return to talks aimed at getting
Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program, a rebuttal of
China’s demand that the United States needs to show flexibility.
North Korea has been subject to U.N. sanctions since 2006
over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. So-called
six-party denuclearization talks – between North Korea, South
Korea, China, the United States, Russia and Japan – stalled in
2009.
Talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-U.S.
President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019 also failed. China and
Russia have since pushed for U.N. sanctions to be eased for
humanitarian purposes and to entice Pyongyang back to talks.
“The unlawful nuclear weapons programme being pursued by the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a clear and present
danger, driving risks and geopolitical tensions to new heights,”
Guterres told a Security Council meeting on the rule of law,
chaired by Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
“The onus is on the DPRK to comply with its international
obligations and return to the negotiating table,” said Guterres,
using North Korea’s formal name.
North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did
not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guterres’
remarks. But in November, North Korea’s foreign minister accused
Guterres of siding with the United States and failing to
maintain impartiality and objectivity.
‘CONCRETE STEPS’
China said last year that the key to solving the issue of
North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs was in the
United States’ hands, urging Washington to show “more sincerity
and flexibility” if it wants a breakthrough.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun declined to comment on
Guterres’ Thursday remarks.
When asked how Pyongyang could be convinced to return to
talks, Zhang told Reuters: “We have to work together. We have to
really ask our American colleagues to move forward with more
concrete steps.” He did not specify what steps.
North Korea wants U.N. and U.S. sanctions lifted.
The United States has said that its up to North Korea to
decide whether it will engage in talks on its nuclear weapons
program. North Korea has rebuffed U.S. entreaties for diplomacy
since President Joe Biden succeeded Trump in January 2021.
North Korea last year resumed testing intercontinental
ballistic missiles for the first time since 2017. It also
prepared to reopen its nuclear test site, raising the prospect
of a new nuclear bomb test for the first time since 2017.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, called out China and Russia for shielding
North Korea from U.N. Security Council action last year.
“The DPRK is clearly and grossly disregarding
international obligations, but so are those that are protecting
and abetting the DPRK,” she told the council.
Last May, China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-led push to impose
more U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic
missile launches. Russia and China say putting further pressure
on North Korea would not be constructive.
“We have exhausted the tool box concerning sanctions and
still the situation is like this,” Zhang said on Thursday.