Jo Chol Su, Director General of the Department of International Organizations of the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made public the following press statement on January 14:

At the open seminar of the UNSC sponsored by Japan on Jan. 12, UN Secretary-General Guterres made very improper remarks that the DPRK is an “obvious and existing danger”, terming the latter’s legitimate and reasonable policy of strengthening nuclear forces  “illegal”.

I express my deep regret at his inability to extricate himself from the outdated, biased and insensible mentality with regard to the present situation on the Korean Peninsula and to the sovereign right of a full-fledged UN member state, in particular. I resolutely condemn and reject such remarks of his.

If Guterres is of the view that the bolstering up of self-defence capabilities of an individual UN member state constitutes a violation of international law, he should have taken issue, above all, with Japan - the country that is now stipulated in the UN Charter as enemy state - over its ambition for military giant and, furthermore, should explain why the U.S., the world’s biggest nuclear weapons state and the military expenditure state, is receiving  extraterritorial treatment in the UN arena.

We have already advised the UN Secretary-General time and again to look into the issue of the Korean Peninsula on the basis of impartiality and objectivity as befits his mission stipulated in the Charter.

Such advice notwithstanding, he is turning a blind eye to the reckless arms buildup perpetrated by the U.S. that is constantly deploying all sorts of means for nuclear strike on the Korean peninsula and in the region, bringing no good but aggravated tension in the region, and is now trying instead to shift the blame onto the DPRK.. Such behavior is a clear and typical double-standard, a dangerous act of undermining the trust of the international community in the UN.

The root cause of the degradation of the international community into an utter chaos is none other than high-handed and arbitrary practices of the U.S. and its following forces.

In order that the current seminar helps even for a bit maintain international peace and stability in a substantial way, it should have called into question the violation of international law by the U.S., the instigator of world’s instability, and other Western countries before anyone else rather than taking issue with a sovereign state’s legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence.

Should the unfair deeds of the U.S. continue unabated, the world can never rid itself of the uneasiness, confusion, distrust and conflict, for the U.S. is wantonly violating the very purpose and principle of the UN Charter that stipulates the equality and respect of sovereignty and non-interference of internal affairs when it comes to maintaining its hegemonic position.

Talking about Japan, it has yet to admit the adjudication of the Second World War, the foundation and base for establishing the UN, and furthermore, has yet to liquidate in earnest the past history of its colonial rule over the Korean people. It therefore has no moral or legal qualification to rank itself into the UNSC in the first place.

If Japan attempts to incite confrontation and division among countries and to realize its ambition for a military giant by usurping its position as the non-permanent member state of the UNSC, it will be met with accusation and condemnation of the international community that is aspiring for justice and will only be repeating its fatal past all by itself.

No matter how desperate the attempts of the U.S. and its vassal forces may be, the international prestige of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state, both in name and in deed, will remain an eternally inevitable and stark reality.