July 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The assistant to the UN Secretary General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Jiari, on Thursday asked for cooperation before the United Nations Security Council to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.
“Key peace and security issues, such as the situation on the Korean peninsula, must be the subject of cooperation. I want to emphasize the importance of re-establishing communication channels, especially those between the military authorities, and exercising maximum restraint,” Jiari has stated.
The senior United Nations official has called for “unity” in the council, and has insisted that it is “critical” to avoid unintended escalations and take measures to reduce these “dangerous dynamics.”
The Security Council meeting took place after North Korea confirmed the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Hwasongpho-18’ which, according to Jiari, is the longest flight recorded by a North Korean missile and can reach “almost anywhere on the planet,” including the United States.
The missile flew for 74 minutes over a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers, and ended up falling into the Sea of Japan, something the UN has described as a “serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic.”
For his part, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, condemned the launch of “another intercontinental ballistic missile” and urged the country to comply with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and to re-establish dialogue without preconditions to reach peace. denuclearization of the peninsula.
The North Korean authorities have warned about the deterioration of stability and military security in the region due to “hostile movements” by the United States and “its vassal forces”, which has caused a phase of “unprecedented nuclear crisis”. since the Cold War,” referring to US military reconnaissance planes that North Korea says have crossed the country’s economic water zone numerous times.
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On the other hand, Jiari has shown the concern of the UN for the humanitarian situation in North Korea and has assured that they are ready to “help the most vulnerable population of the country”, and has asked Pyongyang to allow the passage of international aid now that COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency.
“Diplomacy, and not isolation, is the only way forward,” he assured.
The North Korean leader himself, Kim Jong Un, acknowledged in June 2021 the “tense” food situation in which the country found itself and even alluded to the ‘Arduous March’ of the nineties, as the response is known in the Asian country in the face of the unprecedented famine it suffered.
Ballasted by sanctions in recent years, the country is going through a worrisome situation in humanitarian matters, according to the few organizations that have information.
