Kim Son Gyong, Vice-Minister for International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), released the following press statement on April 19 entitled “The Asian trip by the U.S. representative to the UN indicates the present state of the U.S. which has lost its presence in the international arena”:

A permanent representative to the UN in general reminds one of a top diplomat striving at the UN organization, the highest arena of the international community, to defend world peace and security and the interests of his or her own country.

The same is true of the U.S. in this conception. But it seems that Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. representative to the UN, has forgotten her duty.

What arouses concern is that Thomas Greenfield, styling herself a representative of the so-called “superpower” to the UN, is not clear about what the most pressing external matter of the U.S. is.

The partner, frequently phoned by the U.S. chief executive recently, is in the Middle East and the place, frequented by the U.S. Secretary of State, is the Middle East. The fact indicates that the urgent task for American diplomats is an early settlement of ever-worsening Middle East situation.

At present, the Middle East situation, including Palestine’s admission to a UN membership is brought up for discussion at the UNSC as the most pressing issue.

Moreover, the security of Israel, the closest blood ally of the U.S., is at stake in the Middle East.

Nevertheless, the U.S. representative to the UN obstinately embarked on her trip to Asia, turning her face away from all these facts. This clearly shows that the U.S. has taken no account of guaranteeing peace and security in the Middle East including Palestine, but it is at a loss with the miserable fate of the tattered sanctions mechanism against the DPRK.

The current trip to Asia by Thomas Greenfield is no more than an aid-begging trip of a loser to revitalize the weakened illegal sanctions and pressure on the DPRK with the help of inferior allies.

It is a last-ditch effort to continue to beat the drum for pressure by stitching together a ripped sanctions drum, but I am curious to know how great the resonance effect will be and what kind of cold treatment and derision such behavior will invite from the international community.

The U.S. has surely lost its presence in the international arena including the UN, which is evidenced by Thomas Greenfield’s current trip to Asia.

Since the inauguration of its present administration, the U.S. has not returned to the world but the world has abandoned the U.S.

Thomas Greenfield would be well advised to stop such a foolish act as exposing to the world what the U.S. is really worried about and afraid of and find her place.

The diplomatic arena where Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. representative to the UN, can properly display her diplomatic ability and qualifications is not the Korean peninsula but somewhere across the continent and the ocean.