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 October 20:

As regards the measures taken by the DPRK of physically and completely cutting off its roads and railways connected to the ROK, the UN Secretary-General Guterres made extremely improper remarks on October 15, emphasizing the importance of restraint and demanding the restoration of all relevant communication channels as soon as possible.

He successfully played the role of a spokesman for the U.S., repeating like an automatic answering machine such stereotyped remarks as “compliance with the international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions ” and “complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”, all of which have nothing to do with the above-said issue.

Secretary-General Guterres is the highest public official of the UN whose life and soul is objectivity and impartiality. I express strong discontent and categorically reject his unabashed remarks of interfering in the internal affairs of the DPRK, contrary to the principles of respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs enshrined in the UN Charter.

Whether we dismantle or build new roads and railway facilities within the territory of the DPRK where our sovereignty is being exercised pertains to our sovereign rights from A to Z and is therefore not a matter to be meddled in by the UN Secretary-General.

If he were to do right, he should have condemned the ROK military’s provocation a few days ago when they violated the sovereignty of the DPRK by sending in drones – means of military attack – deep into the territorial skies above the latter’s capital.

However, he didn’t utter even a word about the ROK’s wanton infringement upon the DPRK’s sovereignty but chose instead to find fault with the self-defensive measures taken by the DPRK armed forces within our territory. This is nothing less than partiality and double-standards that can never be tolerated.

In the complexity of the Korean peninsula situation where the possibility of an armed conflict is looming on the horizon, the prejudiced remarks made by the UN Secretary-General who is supposed to observe strict neutrality is little short of a green light to the U.S. and the ROK’s attempt at igniting a war against the DPRK.

Should an undesirable incident occur on the Korean peninsula due to the ill-advised military recklessness of the U.S.-backed ROK, the UN Secretary-General can never extricate himself from the responsibility of having encouraged the war hysteria of the warmongers with his flagrant side-taking and kowtowing.