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TOKYO: North Korea condemned the “disturbing” remarks of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the rights of member countries to defend themselves, saying it’s illegal and based on a double standard.

“At the UN Security Council public debate hosted by Japan on the 12th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accused our legitimate and justifiable policy of strengthening nuclear forces as ‘illegal,’ and referred to it as a ‘clear and present danger.’ This remark was extremely disturbing and misleading,” Cho Chul-soo, Director General of the International Organization Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, said in a statement.

“I express my strong disappointment at the fact that the Secretary-General of the United Nations is still sticking to his old-fashioned, prejudiced and absurd way of thinking about the dignified sovereign rights of the member states of the United Nations. We firmly denounce and reject these remarks,” the statement said.

“If Secretary-General Guterres believes that strengthening the self-defense capabilities of individual UN member states violates international law, then the first question should be about Japan’s ambition to become a military superpower.”

Cho also spoke of double standards when dealing with the United States, which, he said, was “aggravating the regional situation to the greatest extent possible.”

“The root cause of the lawlessness of the international community is none other than the power and despotism of the United States and its followers.”

Cho then returned to the subject of Japan, which, he said, “has not yet acknowledged the consequences of World War II and has not faithfully settled its history of colonial rule over the Korean people.”

He accused Japan of having ambitions to become a military superpower.

The North Korean statement also questioned why the United States, the world’s largest nuclear power and military spending nation, is being treated extraterritorially on the UN stage. 

“We have repeatedly recommended that the UN Secretary-General follow the mandate enshrined in the Charter and consider the Korean Peninsula issue based on impartiality and objectivity. Nevertheless, we continue to see how he turned his back on the reckless military build-up of the United States, which is constantly drawing various nuclear weapons into the Korean peninsula and all parts of the world and is aggravating the regional situation to the greatest extent possible,” Cho said.