MADRID 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The assistant to the UN secretary general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Jiari, denounced this Wednesday before the United Nations Security Council that North Korea’s nuclear programs “undermine” disarmament efforts on the Korean peninsula. where there has been an increase in tensions in recent months.
“The continued continuation of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs continues to undermine the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. It also increases tensions and contributes to North Korea’s further isolation from the international community. We continue to urge the North Korean authorities to fully comply with their international obligations,” he declared.
Jiari has considered it “imperative” to alleviate tensions in this area of the world, because 2025 has begun “marked by growing challenges for global peace and security.” For this reason, he recalled that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has “constantly called for de-escalation and urgent resumption of talks.”
“Diplomatic engagement remains the only path to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In this regard, we welcome offers to engage in dialogue with North Korea without preconditions,” he said.
These statements took place days after Pyongyang launched another ballistic missile, a fact that “is a cause for great concern,” Jiari said. “According to North Korea’s official statement, the missile flew in line with its predetermined flight path at a speed equivalent to 12 times the speed of sound and landed in the open sea. While it stated that the launch did not have a negative impact on the security of neighboring countries, unfortunately it did not issue maritime or airspace security notifications,” he lamented.
In this sense, he criticized that the statement reported that the system can “deliver a serious military attack on a rival by effectively breaking any of its dense defensive barriers.” In turn, he pointed out that hypersonic vehicles travel five times the speed of sound and perform evasive maneuvers, “which makes defense measures against the weapon very difficult.”
On the other hand, he has denounced that the Kim Jong Un regime “has been actively working to acquire new military capabilities in accordance with its current five-year military development plan, which is entering its last year in 2025″, clearly violating ” Security Council resolutions. In accordance with this plan, it has developed tactical nuclear weapons, nuclear warheads, intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles, military reconnaissance satellites and a nuclear submarine.
Pyongyang launched a “new” intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile on Monday coinciding with the trip of the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, to South Korea. In addition, it took place two weeks before the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, takes office, a ceremony that will be held on January 20. The last launches were on November 5, 2024, the date on which the US presidential elections were held.
Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years due to increased ballistic tests by Pyongyang, which violate sanctions imposed by the United Nations, and closer military cooperation between Seoul and the United States.