UNITED NATIONS: UN 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 UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 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 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.
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