JOIN USUNSC to meet as S Korea begins exercise
A frequent unofficial envoy to the reclusive country, New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson has held three important meetings with top leaders in North Korea’s foreign ministry and military during his four-day visit.
“I hope the UNSC will pass a strong resolution calling for self-restraint from all sides in order to seek peaceful means to resolve this dispute,” Richardson said in a statement released by his US office on Saturday.
South Korea’s military plans to conduct one-day, live-fire drills by Tuesday on the same front-line island the North shelled last month as the South conducted a similar exercise.
The North warned the drills would cause it to strike back harder than it did last month, when four people were killed on Yeonpyeong Island.
The high tensions prompted the UNSC on Saturday to schedule an emergency meeting at Russia’s request.
The military’s position to hold the drills remains unchanged, a defence ministry official said, indicating the drills could take place either on Monday or Tuesday due to bad weather on Sunday.
The North’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that South Korea would face an unspecified “catastrophe” if the drills take place, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The North also said it would strike harder than before.
South Korea said the drills are routine, defensive in nature and should not be considered threatening. The US supported that and said any country has a right to train for self-defence, but Russia and China, fellow permanent members of the UNSC, have expressed concern.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the Russian government believes the Security Council must send “a restraining signal” to North Korea and help launch diplomatic actions to resolve all disputes between North Korea and South Korea.
China, the North’s key ally, has said it is “unambiguously opposed” to any acts that could worsen already-high tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, called for restraint from all parties concerned to avoid escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
Marines carrying rifles conducted routine patrols on Sunday. About 240 residents, officials and journalists remain on Yeonpyeong, said Lim Byung-chan, an official from Ongjin County, which governs the island. He said there is no immediate plan to order a mandatory evacuation to the mainland.
Amid security jitters, nearly 800 out of 1,300 civilians living on the island moved to unsold apartments in Gimpo, west of Seoul, on Sunday, according to Ongjin County officials.