UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 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 UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. So-called six-party denuclearisation 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-US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019 also failed. China and Russia have since pushed for UN 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 according to Reuters.
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.
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 UN Ambassador Zhang Jun declined to comment on Guterres’ 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 UN and US 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 US 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.
US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called out China and Russia for shielding North Korea from UN 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 US-led push to impose more UN 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.
