North Korea’s envoy, Tillerson to attend United Nations meeting

UNITED NATIONS, United States: North Korea’s UN ambassador will attend a Security Council meeting yesterday where US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will address how to confront the North Korea crisis, diplomats said.

Tillerson set off speculation that Washington was seeking a diplomatic opening for negotiations with North Korea when he offered this week to hold talks ‘without preconditions.’

The White House and State Department, however, stressed that the US stance had not changed and insisted North Korea must first show a willingness to halt its nuclear and missile tests.

Ambassador Ja Song Nam will speak during his rare appearance at the top UN body, which will hold a ministerial-level meeting following a visit to Pyongyang by senior UN official Jeffrey Feltman.

Jo Jong Chol, spokesman at the North Korean mission, confirmed in an email to AFP that the ambassador will attend the council meeting.

On Thursday, the ambassador met with Feltman to follow up on the UN official’s visit to Pyongyang last weekend.

Feltman met with North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho and Vice Foreign Minister Pak MyongKuk during his four- day visit to Pyongyang – the first by a highranking UN official since 2011.

Ja also attended those meetings during which Feltman pressed for ‘ talks about talks’ to open up a diplomatic venue and prevent a possible war on the Korean peninsula. UN officials declined to comment on the 30-minute meeting on Thursday, but Feltman has encouraged the North Koreans to take the Security Council seriously.

North Korea has repeatedly criticised the council as a tool of the United States after it ratcheted up sanctions against Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear tests. — AFP