June 27, 2018
A North Korean diplomat said at a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament that Japan should refrain from intervening in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has again warned Japan not to meddle in its denuclearization issue, saying Tokyo has nothing to do with the North’s recent summit agreements with South Korea and the United States.
Ju Yong-chol, a North Korean diplomat stationed in Geneva, said at a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday that Japan should refrain from intervening in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula because it is not a signatory to the Panmunjom Declaration between the two Koreas or the North’s summit agreement with the US.
The diplomat made the remarks after Japan’s mission to Geneva urged North Korea to faithfully implement its summit agreements with the US, including its denuclearization pledge, at the same conference.
The Japanese mission also stressed closer cooperation with South Korea and the US over the North’s denuclearization.
During the conference, Austria, Australia, Argentina and other countries repeatedly called for denuclearization efforts by North Korea, but Ju said those calls cannot be tolerated, citing his country’s recent summit agreements.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a TV program on June 16 that his country will be ready to pay for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspections of the North’s nuclear program to achieve its denuclearization, as long as the issue of Japanese abductees in the North is resolved beforehand.
At that time, Pyongyang’s media responded by saying that Japan should instead prioritize compensation linked to its imperial past and refrain from resorting to petty tricks.