A war with North Korea is avoidable, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday, urging direct talks between key powers on dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Guterres said recent moves by South and North Korea to ease tensions were important, but he added: “let’s not forget that the essential problem is yet to be solved.”
“I am not yet sure that peace is guaranteed.” “I believe war is avoidable,” Guterres told reporters.
The UN chief said his goal was to ensure that “those who are more relevant in this process are able to seriously talk to each other and seriously find a way to denuclearization.”
The former Portuguese prime minister begins his second year as UN chief this month with North Korea looming large as the most pressing global security threat.
The United States and North Korea have shown little interest in holding direct talks to address the crisis.
Presenting his priorities for 2018 to the General Assembly, Guterres said there were “small signs of hope” after North Korea agreed to take part in the Winter Olympics in the South and the re-opening of a military hotline between Pyongyang and Seoul.
North Korea’s race to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States with a nuclear warhead has raised fears of a devastating conflict.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon