UN Chief Weighs In on Giving Tougher Sanctions to North Korea
As the UN Security Council (UNSC) works on new sanctions to implement against North Korea for its latest nuclear test, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appealed for a "tougher, clear message" to the communist nation.
According to a report from Yonhap News Agency, Ban made the remark in an interview with The Washington Times with regards to the question of whether the council should implement stricter sanctions on North Korea.
The newspaper also reported that the UN Chief mentioned that the United States and China are discussing new sanctions in close consultations with South Korea and Japan. "At this time, the trend or direction should be toward measures which can send a tougher, clear message to North Korea," Ban said.
He also expressed his growing concern about North Korea's weapons and provocations. The leader stated, "We are talking about nuclear bombs. Whatever we see, a conflict in Syria our South Sudan or the Central African Republic or elsewhere, they do not have any nuclear weapons. North Korea has nuclear weapons, and they have tested them five times successfully."
Ban also mentioned about the series of missile launches of varying ranges by North Korea.
He commented, "It seems that they are in the process of making smaller, lighter, longer-range ballistic missiles where they can have this nuclear warhead on top. They publicly, have openly said that their target is to strike the United States with much lighter, longer-range ballistic missiles. This is quite worrying, a very worrying situation."
The UN Chief said that although the United States and China have opposing views on the North Korea crisis, the two nations should work together to stop the nuclear and missile tests from North Korea.
China is a big factor in the goal to put a stop on North Korea's threats because of the fact that it is one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the major provider of fuel and food to North Korea.
