Nuclear envoys call on UN members to repatriate North Korean workers

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Nuclear envoys call on UN members to repatriate North Korean workers

Published: 07 Apr. 2023, 11:41

Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, center, with Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, right, and Funakoshi Takehiro, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japanese Foreign Ministry, left, in Seoul on Friday, marking the three envoys’ first meeting this year. [NEWS1]

Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan called on all UN members to repatriate North Korean workers to abide by UN Security Council resolutions.

“UN Member States should be vigilant and ensure that no work authorizations are renewed or granted to overseas DPRK laborers consistent with UNSC resolution 2375 (2017) and address the DPRK’s attempts to evade sanctions,” the envoys said in their statement issued after their meeting in Seoul on Friday, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its full name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met with Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, and Funakoshi Takehiro, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japanese Foreign Ministry, in Seoul on Friday, marking the three envoys’ first meeting this year.

In their joint statement, the three also noted cases of North Korean IT workers using forged identities and nationalities to evade the security council sanctions and earn money that “funds the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs,” referring to the acronym for weapons of mass destruction.

They also called to attention the North’s illegal cyber activities, which amounted to as much as $2 billion between 2015 and 2019, according to the UN Panel of Experts, and that the regime is also estimated to have stolen up to $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency in 2022 alone.

“We highlight the importance of our joint efforts to block such illicit revenue streams,” reads the statement.

In addressing the press after their meeting, Kim Gunn said North Korea was “bullying the entire international community” and misguiding its own citizens.

“North Korea is misguiding its people to believe that nuclear weapons are a magic wand that can solve all of its problems,” Kim said. “On the contrary, North Korea’s nuclear obsession is nothing more than a self-destructive boomerang that destroys the future of all North Koreans.”

Kim also referred to the North’s recent backslash at the UN, adding that “Pyongyang always finds an excuse for its failure. They blame the ROK, US, Japan and basically anything they don’t like including the United Nations.”

Funakoshi referred to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s historic visit to Tokyo last month, relaying the resolve of the leaders of Japan, Korea and the United States to work together with the “common assessment of the current strategic environment including threats from North Korea.

“North Korea’s provocations are escalating as have been seen in two ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] launches this year and its rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons,” Funakoshi said in the joint press conference. “We strongly condemn these actions by North Korea.”

North Korea has continued its streak of provocations from last year, when it fired over 90 ballistic missiles, launching two ICBMs and threatened to use the Pacific as its firing range.

“DPRK represents one of the most serious security challenges in the region and beyond,” said Sung Kim. “With its pursuit of UN-prohibited WMD and ballistic missiles and its malicious cyber program that targets countries and individuals around the globe, the DPRK threatens the security and prosperity of the entire international community.”

Emphasizing their “unwavering effort to seek complete denuclearization” of North Korea, Kim added that the three countries remain strongly committed to diplomacy even as the DPRK continues its provocations, and that American leaders have communicated their willingness to engage the North in dialogue “without preconditions.”

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]