'Mu Yong-ron' Not Enough... UN's Ambiguous Comment on North Korea's Harsh Remarks Statement

UN Deputy Spokesperson Comments on North Korea's Kim Yo-jong Criticism Statement
Hopes "Anyone Avoids Provocative Rhetoric" Except North Korea
Security Council Unable to Respond to ICBM Launch... "Ineffectiveness"

The United Nations, which has been criticized for failing to respond to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches, recently took a somewhat ambiguous stance on the 'harsh remarks' made by Kim Yo-jong, the Vice Director of the North Korean Workers' Party.

Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson, told Voice of America (VOA) in response to a request for comment on Kim Yo-jong's statement, "We hope all parties will avoid any rhetoric that could escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula," adding, "Ultimately, we hope the parties will return to dialogue and seek ways to achieve peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," on the 8th.

When asked a follow-up question whether this meant hoping for the suspension of the South Korea-US joint military exercises, he replied, "Think about what can be done to ease tensions. At this point, our basic view is that anyone should avoid provocative rhetoric," and added, "The situation on the Korean Peninsula has been sufficiently tense, and we hope it will calm down considerably."

Kim Yo-jong, in her statement the previous day, said, "The provocative military actions and all kinds of rhetorical expressions by the United States and South Korea, which are crossing the line and moving in an extremely insane direction, are undoubtedly creating conditional grounds that compel us to respond in some way." She reiterated the argument that North Korea's military provocations are due to the South Korea-US joint exercises.

The cause of escalating tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula lies entirely with North Korea, which continues illegal ballistic missile launches. Moreover, as the South Korea-US joint exercises approach, North Korea is blatantly building a pretext for a show of force, and the use of the term 'anyone' to call for restraint from both North Korea and the South Korea-US sides is seen as inappropriate by some critics.

Farhan Haq, UN Deputy Spokesperson
[Photo by Yonhap News]

North Korea has continued a focused offensive against the UN Security Council this year. For example, on the 22nd of last month, Kim Son-gyong, Vice Minister of the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of international organizations, fiercely criticized the UN Secretary-General for turning a blind eye to the military actions of South Korea and the United States while applying an unfair standard only to North Korea. This is interpreted as an attempt to justify non-cooperation with China and Russia by arguing the UN's 'unfairness.'

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council should, in principle, pursue new sanctions resolutions against ICBM launches. However, sanctions against North Korea's launch of the ICBM 'Hwasong-15' last month failed, and the presidential statement in response to last November's ICBM 'Hwasong-17' launch is still stalled. This is because China and Russia, among the Security Council members deciding the response direction, have been abusing their veto power and refusing to cooperate.