Mexico expels North Korean amb. over weapons test

Mexico has expelled North Korea’s ambassador in strong protest at Pyongyang’s recent missile and nuclear tests.

The Mexican government announced on Thursday that the North Korean ambassador to Mexico had been listed as persona non grata and had to exit the country.

The government said it had given Kim Hyong-gil 72 hours to leave Mexico in order to express its “absolute rejection” of North Korea’s recent nuclear activity, describing it as a grave threat to the region and the world.

An official at the Mexican Foreign Ministry said, however, that President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government was not breaking diplomatic ties with North Korea.

The move followed a tide of condemnations of North Korea for repeated missile launches in recent weeks, which peaked with a nuclear test on Sunday.

On Sunday, North Korea said it had successfully test-fired a miniature hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The developments come amid high tensions over the North Korean missile and nuclear programs. South Korea, the US, and Japan have been worried by the North’s weapons programs, which Pyongyang has been defiantly advancing as countermeasures to their animosity.

Earlier, North Korea had fired a Hwasong-12 missile — reportedly capable of carrying a nuclear payload — that traveled nearly 2,700 kilometers into the Pacific, including over Japan.

The violation of Japanese airspace sparked angry reactions from Japan and the US, as well as calls for restraint by other countries, including Russia and China. The launch also prompted a United Nations Security Council condemnation.

China urges renewed negotiations

In a related development on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping talked on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, urging the French leader to play a “constructive role” in attempts to solve the Korean Peninsula crisis.

“The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in the end can only be resolved through peaceful means, including through dialog and consultations,” Xi told Macron.

He asked the French president to make efforts to restart the Korean peace talks.

Macron, for his part, said France was working to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and valued China’s role in resolving the issue, China Central Television said.

Six-party peace talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, and the United States, hosted by China, stalled in 2008.

Xi made similar calls to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, urging the leaders to help resolve the Korean crisis via dialog.

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