UN secretary-general warns against North's nuke test

Diplomacy

Published: 02 Feb. 2023, 17:12

UN secretary-general warns against North's nuke test

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

A seventh nuclear test from North Korea would be a “devastating blow” to global peace, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his recent meeting with the foreign minister of Korea in New York.

“The secretary-general expressed concern that North Korea's additional nuclear test would deal a devastating blow to the regional and international community and reaffirmed the UN’s support for the South Korean government's efforts to achieve sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement Thursday.

Satellite images shared by researchers and think tanks last year indicated that North Korea may have completed its preparations for another nuclear test, which would be its seventh. The last was in 2017.

Foreign Minister Park Jin flew into New York on Wednesday to meet with Guterres and host a meeting with the representatives of the member states of the UN Security Council.

In a meeting earlier on Wednesday with British ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward, French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, the Alternate Representative of the U.S. for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations Robert Wood and Chinese Charge d’Affaires Dai Bing, Park called for a strong and united response from the UN Security Council on the North’s repeated violations of the council’s resolutions.

“In order to encourage the North to return to negotiations for denuclearization, we need all members of the UN Security Council and the UN to implement the resolutions on the North,” Park was quoted to have told the representatives.

Despite North Korea’s record level of military provocations last year including its launches of over 90 missiles, the UN Security Council has been divided on passing new sanctions on the North for its weapons programs.

A resolution drafted by the United States last May was vetoed by Russia and China, marking the first time since 2006 that the council couldn’t agree on a sanctions resolution on the North.

The resolution would have cut exports of crude oil to the North from 4 million barrels a year to 3 million barrels and slashed refined petroleum exports from 500,000 barrels to 375,000 barrels. It would have also banned the sale of all tobacco products.

Park also called for the members’ support for Korea’s bid for its third non-permanent membership on the Security Council for 2024-25.

Foreign Minister Park Jin with UN representatives of the member states of the Security Council, at the UN Office in New York on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Park was scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday. It will be the duo’s first meeting this year, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

They were expected to discuss security on the Korean Peninsula, especially American extended deterrence to protect South Korea in a security emergency, a topic that has garnered increasing public attention in the South recently.

Public surveys in Korea that has indicated more South Koreans want their country to develop nuclear weapons to thwart security threats from the North were noted by top American officials — including the U.S. defense secretary, who visited earlier this week, and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg.

"On extended deterrence, we're continuing discussing the whole range of our capabilities with the Yoon [Suk Yeol] administration,” Goldberg said at a forum hosted by the Korean Women Journalists Association in Seoul on Wednesday.

“That will continue, and I think you'll see further evidence of our willingness and our objective of reassuring the South Korean people if they are not convinced of it till now.”

BY ESTHER CHUNG, PARK HYUN-JU [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]