On Tuesday, North Korea’s Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told the General Assembly’s committee on disarmament that the situation on the Korean peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment.”
The reclusive nation said that it will never negotiate the dismantling of its nuclear weapons unless the United States reverses its “hostile” policy. Ryong said, “The situation on the Korean peninsula where the attention of the whole world is focused has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment. As long as one does not take part in the U.S. military actions against the DPRK (North Korea), we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country”. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, hours after Pyongyang warned that a nuclear war might break out at any moment, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J Sullivan said that the U.S. is not ruling out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea. For months now, China has been urging the U.S. and North Korea to find a diplomatic solution, more so because it fears a refugee crisis breaking out at its border with Pyongyang and chaos across the region. However, U.S. and its ally Japan have been reluctant to sit down at the table while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States. The official KCNA news agency said in a commentary, “The DPRK has been fully ready for all the U.S. is resorting to, including sanctions, pressure and military option, as it has the tremendous nuclear force for self-defence and irresistible strength of self-reliance and self-development”. Commenting on North Korean envoy’s warning of nuclear war, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said it would not be in anyone’s interest. He said at a news briefing, “China still hopes that all parties, in this situation where things on the Korean peninsula are highly complex and sensitive, can exercise restraint and do more to benefit the lowering of tensions in the region”.
