GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea threatened South Korea with "final
destruction" during a debate at the United Nations Conference on
Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a
nuclear test last week. Jon's comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including South
Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne Adamson said
such language was "completely inappropriate" and the discussion with
North Korea was heading in the wrong direction.
"In the 30 years of my
career I've never heard anything like it and it seems to me that we are
not speaking about something that is even admissible, we are speaking
about a threat of the use of force that is prohibited by Article 2.4 of
the United Nations charter," Catalina said. Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of
U.N. resolutions, its southern neighbour has warned it could strike the
isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent. Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defences
given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to
impose sanctions on North Korea. "If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the
last, rendering the situation complicated, it (North Korea) will be left
with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in
succession," he said, without indicating what that might entail. North Korea has already told key ally China that it is
prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United
States into diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the
message told Reuters last week.
Impoverished and malnourished North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world. It is still technically at war with South Korea after a 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce.
Washington and its allies are believed to be pushing to
tighten the noose around North Korea's financial transactions in a bid
to starve its leadership of funding. Jon said last week's test was an act of self-defence against
nuclear blackmail by the United States, which wanted to block North
Korea's economic development and its fundamental rights. Jon said the United States had conducted most of the nuclear
tests and satellite launches in history, and he described its pursuit of
U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea as "a breach of
international law and the height of double standards".
Neither Russia nor China, which are veto-wielding members of
the U.N. Security Council, spoke at Tuesday's meeting in Geneva. Before its nuclear test, North Korea was already facing growing diplomatic pressure at the United Nations. The U.N. Human Rights
Council is widely expected to order an inquiry next month into its
leaders' responsibilities for crimes against humanity. MadOne