UN official tells North Korea channels of communication necessary with US

A United Nations (UN) official who recently traveled to North Korea told senior officials there that there was an urgent need to open channels of communication between Pyongyang and presumably the United States to avoid a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the UN has announced.

The world body said in a statement on Saturday that the remark had been made by UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman during a visit to North Korea from December 5 to 8 and in a series of meetings with government officials there.

Feltman also underlined the need for the full implementation of all relevant UN Security Council resolutions and said the international community was committed to achieving a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the dispute over the North Korean weapons programs, according to the statement.

“He also said there can only be a diplomatic solution to the situation, achieved through a process of sincere dialogue. Time is of the essence,” the UN statement read. “They (the North Koreans)... agreed that the current situation was the most tense and dangerous peace and security issue in the world today.”

The official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry as saying earlier in the day that the UN envoy had expressed willingness to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and acknowledged the negative impact of sanctions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.

“The United Nations expressed concerns over the heightened situation on the Korean Peninsula and expressed willingness to work on easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with the UN Charter, which is based on international peace and security,” the KCNA said.

Feltman’s trip to North Korea, the highest-level visit by a UN official to North Korea since 2012, came amid escalating tensions over Pyongyang’s test-launch of a new ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

North Korea has been developing its weapons programs in an attempt to guard itself against potential aggression by the US and its regional allies.

The US and South Korea launched a five-day joint military drill in the region last week, with more than 200 aircraft conducting mock attacks on North Korea in different war scenarios.

During the past recent months, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated markedly over Pyongyang’s latest missile and nuclear tests.

Pyongyang says it will not give up on its nuclear deterrence until Washington stops its hostile policy toward the country. Washington has thousands of troops in the region, including in South Korea and Japan, and routinely threatens the North with military action to stop its weapons programs.

South Korea ‘to slap unilateral sanctions on North Korea’

In a separate development on Sunday, South Korea announced the imposition of a new round of unilateral sanctions against North Korea, as part of efforts to pressure Pyongyang over its latest ballistic missile test.

Seoul’s new measures, the second set of unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in a month, will target a total of 20 North Korean organizations, including banks and trading companies, and 12 North Korean individuals, mostly bankers, allegedly connected to its weapons program.

The sanctions are in addition to those by the UN Security Council, in place since 2006 over North Korea’s nuclear tests as well as multiple rocket and missile launches.

Japan, US, South Korea ‘to hold missile tracking drills’

The United States, Japan, and South Korea are scheduled to hold two days of missile tracking drills starting on December 11, according to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The exercises are said to be in response to the heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Monday exercises will be the sixth round of such drills and will see the sharing of information in tracking ballistic missiles among the three countries, the Japanese military said.

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