DPRK envoy denounces US hostility
Washington urged to end military exercises, weapons deployment in Korean peninsula
UNITED NATIONS — The permanent representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations denounced on Sept 27 the United States’ hostile policy against his country, describing Washington’s hostility as a “clearest expression in its military threats” against Pyongyang.
“The US hostile policy towards the DPRK is not at all abstract. It is in itself military threats and hostile acts we are facing from the US every day,” Kim Song said in his address to the General Debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
He said that the US “has been posing nuclear threats, antagonizing the DPRK for more than 70 years”, and that US troops are stationing at numerous military bases in the neighboring Republic of Korea and maintaining “a war posture to take military action against the DPRK at any moment”.
Kim called for the US “to contribute to the peace and stability of the peninsula and the world by withdrawing an anachronistic, hostile policy towards the DPRK in a bold and complete manner”.
He said the current US administration should prove its policy stand that “they have no hostile intent towards the DPRK” by practical actions instead of words, and it should also
remove the double standards towards the DPRK.
“If the US shows its bold decision to give up its hostile policy, we are also prepared to respond willingly at any time,” Kim said.
If Washington “is really desirous of peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, it should take the
first step towards giving up its hostile policy against the DPRK by stopping permanently the joint military exercises and the deployment of all kinds of strategic weapons which are leveled at the DPRK in and around the Korean Peninsula”, he urged.
On the morning of Sept 28, the DPRK test-fired a hypersonic missile
Hwasong-8 in Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County of Jagang Province, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sept 29.
The missile was newly developed and test-fired by the Academy of Defence Science, the report said.
“In the first test-launch, national defense scientists confirmed the navigational control and stability of the missile in the active section and also its technical specifications including the guiding maneuverability and the gliding flight characteristics of the detached hypersonic gliding warhead,” the report said.
DPRK also tested cruise and ballistic missiles in September.
On Sept 28, the ROK’s nuclear envoy held phone talks with his US counterpart on the Korean Peninsula issues, the ROK foreign ministry said.
Noh Kyu-duk, ROK special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, had discussions over the phone with Sung Kim, US special representative for the DPRK.
During the afternoon phone talks, Noh and Sung Kim shared their assessments on the Korean Peninsula situation, including the DPRK’s short-range missile launch and the statement from Kim Yo Jong, vicedepartment director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of
Korea of the DPRK.
Kim Yo-jong, younger sister of top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, said on Sept 24 that Pyongyang is willing to hold discussions on improving interKorean relations if the ROK ends its hostile policies toward the DPRK.
“We have willingness to keep our close contacts with the South again and have constructive discussion with it about the restoration and development of bilateral relations” if Seoul ceases its hostile policies toward Pyongyang, Kim Yo-jong said in a statement carried by the KCNA.
She made the remarks in response to a proposal by ROK President Moon Jae-in days prior. During a speech at the 76th UNGA, Moon called for a political declaration to terminate the 1950-53 war on the Korean Peninsula.
The two envoys shared the need for close cooperation between the ROK and the US to stably manage situations in the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to meet face-to-face in Indonesia on Sept 30.
Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the US have stalled since the second summit between the DPRK leader and former US president Donald Trump ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.