China calls for calm on North Korea’s UN seat suspension call

BEIJING: China urged calm and restraint yesterday after South Korea called for the possible suspension of North Korea’s seat at the United Nations to punish it for using chemical weapons to kill the half-brother of its leader.

Malaysian police have said two women smeared VX nerve agent, a chemical on a United Nations list of banned weapons of mass destruction, on Kim Jong Nam’s face in an assault captured on security cameras in the Malaysian capital’s airport on Feb 13.

US and South Korean officials believe Kim Jong Nam was the victim of an assassination orchestrated by North Korea.

Speaking at the UN- backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung- se said the use of chemical weapons was a ‘ wake-up call’ and the international community should act - including possibly suspending the isolated North’s seat at the United Nations.

“What I need to say is that the situation at present on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, when asked whether North Korea should be suspended from the United Nations.

“In this situation, we hope all sides can maintain calm and exercise restraint and not do anything to irritate each other or that may raise regional tensions,” Geng told a daily news briefing, without elaborating.

While China is North Korea’s most important remaining international supporter, it has been angered by its repeated missile and nuclear tests and has supported tough UN sanctions.

However, China has pushed for talks to resolve the standoff, and this week is playing host to a senior North Korean diplomat, Vice Foreign Minister Ri Kil Song, the first such highlevel visit since June.

Ri is scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.