Moon highlights peace in UN speech
By Kim Rahn
Not only diplomatic efforts but also pressure and sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are all aimed at preventing a war and maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.
In a keynote speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Moon urged the U.N.’s active role in addressing the North Korea issue, saying the peninsula is the place that desperately needs the U.N. spirit to realize world peace through multilateral talks.
His speech came amid a series of comments from top U.S. officials about military options, including President Donald Trump’s Tuesday speech that the U.S. would totally destroy North Korea if provoked.
Moon expressed gratitude toward the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) swift and unanimous adoption of a new resolution with tougher sanctions on Pyongyang following the North’s sixth nuclear test.
“Despite North Korea’s flagrant violation of its obligations and commitments under the U.N. Charter, the South Korean government and the international community are making every possible effort with great determination to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue,” Moon said. “The UNSC sanctions resolutions against North Korea, which have articulated the principles of a peaceful, diplomatic and political resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, are also part of these efforts.”
He reiterated the stance that the South does not want the North’s collapse and will not seek unification by absorption or artificial unification. “If North Korea makes a decision even now to stand on the right side of history, we are ready to assist North Korea together with the international community.”
While calling on the North to stop making reckless choices for isolation and come forward to negotiations for complete nuclear disarmament, Moon urged the international community to carry out the UNSC resolutions faithfully and take stern measures until the North gives up its nuclear ambitions.
“It is also important to manage the situation in a stable manner. All of our endeavors are to prevent the outbreak of war and maintain peace. In that respect, the situation surrounding the North Korean nuclear issue needs to be managed stably so that tension will not become overly intensified or accidental military clashes will not destroy peace,” he said.
In addressing the issue, the President called for a more active role by the U.N., which was established to realize world peace through multilateral talks.
PyeongChang welcomes Pyongyang
Moon expressed hopes that the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, to be held in February, will be an opportunity to boost peace on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia, noting that the provincial city of Gangwon is only 100 kilometers away from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that is the symbol of division and confrontation.
He encouraged North Korea to participate in the games. “My heart is filled with great joy when I imagine North Korean athletes marching into the stadium during the opening ceremony, a South-North Korean joint cheering squad enthusiastically welcoming them alongside the brightly smiling faces of people from all over the world,” he said.
“It is not an impossible dream. To turn this into a reality, I will make wholehearted endeavors until the end in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee in order to welcome the North Koreans to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.”
In an event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier in the day to promote the games, he said North Korea’s participation would give out a message of reconciliation and peace to the world. “It is not an easy path, but is one that South Korea must take,” he said.