Kim Son Gyong, Vice-minister for International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, made public the following press statement on August 14:

According to a news report, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during his recent visit to south Korea, remarked that he “expresses full support for the complete, verifiable and irretrievable denuclearization (CVID) of the DPRK” and that “this target is important in achieving the regional peace and stability.”

I cannot but express deep regret at the above-mentioned remark by the UN Secretary-general with regard to the issue of the Korean peninsula for it is totally devoid of impartiality and fairness, and is also unbecoming to his duty specified in the UN Charter.

So far, we had never harbored any expectation that the successive UN secretary-generals inclusive of the previous one, except for only a few, would be able to speak for us and our fair stand without prejudice on the issue of the Korean peninsula, given their political inclinations and backgrounds. The same goes for the incumbent secretary-general.

However, we would like to make clear that we cannot not stand the recent remark by the UN secretary-general, which can by no means represent the impartial stand of the international society.

It is clearly specified in the UN Charter that the UN secretary-general should not request nor accept orders from the government of a specific country but refrain from any conduct that may impair his or her position as an international civil servant who is accountable only to the UN.

The so-called CVID touted by the U.S. and its vassal forces has never been tolerated but totally rejected by us for it is synonymous with the infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK demanding its unilateral disarmament. Secretary-General Guterres cannot be unaware of this fact.

Nevertheless, he mouthed the antiquated term of “CVID”. This cannot be interpreted otherwise but to the effect that the UN secretary-general, quite unworthy of his profession, is following the U.S. and its vassal forces in their anti-DPRK hostile policy.

We clarify once again: the DPRK’s possession of nuclear weapons is its inevitable choice to defend the security of its state and people and ensure its independent development from the hostile policy, nuclear threat and blackmail of the U.S. which has imposed untold misfortune and sufferings on Korean nation for the past seventy-odd years.

The past history of confrontation between the DPRK and the U.S. shows that the durable peace and stability on the Korean peninsula can never be ensured unless the U.S., the world's biggest nuclear weapons state and the world’s only nuclear criminal state, abandons its illegal, brutal and hostile policy towards the DPRK completely and irrevocably.

The UN secretary-general, the chief of the organization of UN which is supposed to regard international justice and equality of sovereignty as the fundamental principle of its activities, should always maintain fairness, impartiality and objectivity in the international affairs including the issue of the Korean peninsula under any circumstances.

We advise Secretary-General Guterres to refrain from using such dangerous words that may as well pour gasoline over flames, not to mention doing anything helpful to the settlement of the issue, given the sensitivity of the prevailing situation on the Korean peninsula.