Seoul, South Korea –
North Korea’s foreign minister called UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres an “American puppet” as she criticized the UN chief for taking part in condemning North Korea’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile test.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had earlier issued a statement strongly condemning North Korea’s ICBM launch on Friday and reiterating his call for North Korea to “immediately cease any any more provocations.” Guterres’ statement came after the United States and other countries made similar criticisms of North Korea’s ICBM test that showed its ability to strike anywhere on the continental United States.
“I usually consider the secretary-general of the United Nations to be a member of the White House or the US State Department,” North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by state media. “I express my deep regret that the Secretary-General of the United Nations has taken a very reprehensible attitude, forgetting the purpose and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and its proper mission to uphold impartiality, objectivity and fairness in all matters.”
Choe accused Guterres of ignoring the US and its allies’ participation in North Korea’s ICBM test before the UN Security Council, saying, “This clearly shows that he is an American puppet.”
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday morning on North Korea’s ICBM launch at the request of Japan. But it is unclear whether they will be able to impose new economic sanctions on North Korea as China and Russia, two of the council’s veto members, have opposed the previous moves. the United States and its allies to strengthen sanctions against North Korea over its banned ballistic missile tests. this early year.
On Sunday, top diplomats from the world’s major industrialized democracies issued a joint statement calling on the United Nations Security Council to take strong steps in response to the launch. North Korean missiles. “(North Korea’s) actions require a united and strong response from the international community, including the need for the United Nations Security Council to take even more significant measures,” the statement said. statement of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven — Canada, France. , Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States.
Friday’s ICBM launch was the latest in a series of intense ongoing missile tests by North Korea that experts say is aimed at bolstering its nuclear capabilities and increasing leverage in future diplomacy.
North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un observed Friday’s launch of the Hwasong-17 rocket and called it another “reliable and maximum-capacity” weapon to thwart military threats. America’s. Long-range missile and designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to bypass US missile defense systems.
North Korea has argued that its test activities are a warning to the United States and South Korea of a series of military exercises that North Korea believes are an invasion rehearsal. Washington and Seoul have maintained their exercises are defensive in nature.
In her statement on Monday, Ms. Choe again defended her country’s missile tests, calling them “a legitimate and legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence” against “exercises”. provocative nuclear war” by the United States and its allies. She said it was “most shocking and reprehensible to me” that Guterres still blamed North Korea for the recent outbreak of tension on the Korean Peninsula, not the United States.
The day before his country’s ICBM test, Choe threatened “more intense” military responses to US steps to bolster its security commitments to South Korea and Japan. Copy.
