N Korea, US tensions rise

UN ambassador Kim Song warns of consequences for ‘outrageous’ cargo ship seizure

NORTH Korea’s UN ambassador says the Trump administration should consider the possible consequences that the recent US seizure of a North Korean cargo ship could have on relations between the two countries and immediately return the vessel.

Kim Song said at a news conference the “outrageous act” of seizing the ship was aimed at bringing maximum pressure on North Korea to make it “kneel down”.

The vessel, Wise Honest, North Korea’s second-largest cargo ship, was first detained in April last year by Indonesia while transporting a large amount of coal.

The US announced on May 9 that it had seized the ship because it was carrying coal in violation of UN sanctions, a first-of-its-kind enforcement action that came at a tense moment in relations with North Korea.

The ambassador said the seizure was an “outright denial of the underlying spirit” of the June 12, 2018 joint statement by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their first summit in Singapore “which committed to establishing new bilateral relations”.

At the summit, Trump promised “security guarantees” to Pyongyang and Kim recommitted to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.

A second high-stakes summit between the two leaders in February collapsed over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.

The US has urged allies to maintain economic pressure on North Korea until it takes material steps towards relinquishing its nuclear weapons.

The North Korean leader has since aired his displeasure with shortrange missile tests apparently aimed at putting pressure on Washington and Seoul, and declared the Trump administration had until the end of the year to come up with mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage the negotiations.

Kim, the ambassador, said this week that the ship seizure was the “product of an extreme hostile policy of the US” against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

He accused the US of violating international law and the 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property.

Kim said he had asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take “urgent measures” to contribute to stability on the Korean peninsula, but would not say what measures.

The ambassador listened to other questions, including the impact of the seizure of the ship on prospects for a third Kim-Trump summit and on relations between North Korea and South Korea, whether the ship was carrying contraband, the impact of US and UN sanctions, and whether the North would apologise for the death of American student Otto Warmbier.

Kim said he wouldn’t answer questions not related to the seizure of the Wise Honest.