North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui threatened that "the countries involved will definitely pay the price" in response to the launch of the new multilateral sanctions monitoring team (MSMT) led by the US, South Korea, and Japan to oversee sanctions on North Korea.
In a statement distributed on the 20th via the Korean Central News Agency, Foreign Minister Choe described the MSMT as "thoroughly illegal and illegitimate in its existence and purpose."
Foreign Minister Choe said, "The unilateral actions of the United States and some countries blindly following it shake the foundation of international relations and severely disrupt the global security environment, posing a threatening presence," adding, "Inevitable reactions and corresponding consequences follow wrongful practices." He further stated, "If the United States tries to move the world through coercion and arbitrariness (omitted), it will hasten the emergence of a global anti-American coalition."
The MSMT, launched on the 16th by 11 countries, is a replacement organization for the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on North Korea sanctions, whose activities ended after Russia exercised its veto power against the extension of its mandate at the end of March. Although operating outside the UN framework, the MSMT is considering investigating suspected violations of North Korean sanctions resolutions and publishing reports, similar to the Panel of Experts.
In the statement, Foreign Minister Choe also reiterated that the United States will bear appropriate responsibility regarding the so-called "South Korean drone infiltration incident in Pyongyang."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
