UN Chief praises efforts to reduce tension on Korean Peninsula
Peace and Security
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has welcomed the latest efforts made towards building trust and reducing military tension on the Korean Peninsula, following his meeting with North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Friday, during High-Level week of the General Assembly.
In a statement, the UN chief expressed hope that recent positive developments, in particular the important summits between the leaders of North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea), and between North Korea and the United States, will contribute to “an atmosphere conducive to advancing sustainable peace and complete and verifiable denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions.”
The conversation with Ri Yong Ho took place the day after the US Secretary of State chaired a ministerial level Security Council meeting on North Korea.
During that meeting, Mike Pompeo said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump “share a common, personal understanding of what must take place” to transform relations between the two countries.
The Secretary-General pledged his “commitment and readiness of the United Nations system to further assist the parties in any way they deem appropriate.”