Arab News Japan

TOKYO: North Korea lashed out at the United States on Wednesday for seeking new ways to impose sanctions against the country, following the expiration of the current sanctions on April 30.

A statement issued in the name of Kim Seon-kyung, the undersecretary in charge of the International Organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, termed the US a “pollutant of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

A UN Security Council panel monitored the implementation of sanctions on North Korea for 15 years, but the mandate expired on April 30 after Russia vetoed a resolution for its renewal.

This prompted 49 countries and the European Union to issue a joint statement the following day that called for a new mechanism to replace the UN panel.

In response to the move, Kim said, “The United States is planning to gather all the reactionary forces to create new criminal institutions aimed at other ethnic groups and specific countries” and accused the US of “trying to operate a ghost agency that tramples on the authority of the United Nations.”

“If the act of US robbery is tolerated and encouraged, the wrong international practice of creating an illegal conspiracy agency aimed at any country and imposing unilateral sanctions will be normalized. I express serious concern and strongly condemn the US tyranny, which blatantly ignores the recognized basic rules of international relations and wields illegal sanctions against the international community.”

Kim says the North will protect its rights whatever course the United States takes, adding, “The international community of justice should never tolerate the US, which abuses the sovereignty and security of sovereign countries and maliciouslyviolates international law.”