United Nations – North Korea’s nuclear threat looms large this week over the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN in New York, where diplomats are eager to hear U.S. President Donald Trump address the 193-member body for the first time.
North Korean diplomats will have a front-row seat in the UN General Assembly for Trump’s speech on Tuesday, which will touch on the escalating crisis that has seen Trump and Pyongyang trade threats of military action.
In spite his skepticism about the value of international organisations and the UN in particular, Trump will seek support for tough measures against North Korea, while pressing his “America First” message to the world body.
“This is not an issue between the U.S. and North Korea. This is an issue between the world and North Korea,” Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said on Friday.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, – who, like Trump, took office in January – plans to meet separately with “concerned parties,’’ including North Korean Foreign Minister, Ri Yong-ho, on the sidelines of the 72nd General Assembly.
“The solution can only be political. Military action could cause devastation on a scale that would take generations to overcome,” Guterres warned on Wednesday.
A week ago, the 15-member UN Security Council unanimously adopted its ninth sanctions resolution since 2006 over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said UN sanctions had banned 90 per cent of the Asian state’s publicly reported exports, saying of Pyongyang on Friday: “This is totally in their hands on how they respond.”
Haley told CNN’s “State of the Union” programme on Sunday that Washington had “pretty much exhausted” its options on North Korea at the Security Council.
Ri is due to address the General Assembly on Friday. (Xinhua/NAN)
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