The United Nations Secretary-General expressed concern Wednesday about the announcement of the North Korean leader, who intends to resume nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and called for a resumption of dialogue with a view to the complete denuclearization of that peninsula.
According to the North Korean state agency KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the end of the moratorium on nuclear testing and Pyongyang’s intercontinental ballistic missile testing.
“We have no reason to remain unilaterally linked to this compromise,” KCNA said in a text received in Seoul, referring to statements by Kim Jong-un before his ruling party officials. “The world will discover in the near future a new strategic weapon that North Korea has.”
In a note issued by his spokesman and quoted by the UN News portal, the secretary-general expresses concern about Kim’s announcement and says he hopes “very much that the tests will not be resumed, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions. “
Commenting on this North Korean turnaround, Antonio Guterres called for a resumption of “a dialogue that leads to the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
In the UN leader’s view, “nonproliferation remains a fundamental pillar of global nuclear security” and “must be preserved”.
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