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UN-DENUCLEARIZATION-TALK-NKOREA
UN chief calls for denuclearization during brief talk with N.Korean
official
UN, Feb 10, 2018 (BSS /TASS) – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for
denuclearization talks during a brief conversation with North Korea’s nominal
head of state Kim Yong Nam, UN Secretary General’s Deputy Spokesperson Farhan
Haq told reporters on Friday.
“The Secretary-General did meet with Kim Yong Nam. They were together in
the presidium as they had the Olympic ceremonies and the dinner hosted by
President Moon Jae-in. And so he did have a brief exchange with President
Kim, in which he once more reiterated <…> his expectation and hope that all
parties will use dialogue to achieve the peaceful denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula,” Haq said.
When asked whether the secretary general had any contact with Kim Jong
Un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, the spokesman replied that their direct
communication was unlikely.
The UN chief has already returned by train to Seoul and will leave for New
York early on Saturday morning, Haq added.
Relations between the two Koreas, strained due to Pyongyang’s ballistic
and nuclear tests and Seoul’s joint military exercises with the US, began to
thaw in early 2018. Following several rounds of consultations held in the
Panmunjom settlement in the demilitarized zone separating the two countries,
the parties agreed that North Korea would send a delegation of athletes,
officials and performing artists to the Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to be
held in South Korea’s PyeongChang on February 9-25.
BSS/TASS/MRI/0854 hrs