The North Korean foreign minister called UN Secretary-General António Guterres a “puppet of the United States,” lashing out at him for joining Washington-led condemnations after Pyongyang carried out its latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Guterres had previously issued a statement in which he condemned Friday’s missile launch in the strongest terms and reiterated his call on the North Korean government to “immediately desist from taking further provocative actions.” He said this after the United States and other nations similarly criticized the North Korean test, which showed potential to reach anywhere on the US mainland.
“It often seems to me that Guterres is a member of the White House or his State Department,” North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by state media. “I express my strong regret regarding the fact that the Secretary General of the United Nations has adopted a very deplorable attitude, indifferent to the objective and principles of the UN Charter and its true mission, which is to maintain impartiality, objectivity and fairness. in all matters.”
Choe accused Guterres of overlooking the fact that Washington and its allies had brought the issue of the North Korean launch to the UN Security Council. “This clearly shows that he is a puppet of the United States,” she said.
The Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday morning around the North Korean launch at Japan’s request. But it remains unclear whether he can impose new economic sanctions against North Korea because China and Russia, two of the council’s veto-wielding members, have opposed previous moves led by the United States and its allies this year to tighten sanctions. against Pyongyang regarding its banned ballistic missile tests.