North Korea urges UN chief to act against ‘gangster’ US after ship seizure
- The US said on May 9 that it seized the ship because it was carrying coal in violation of UN sanctions, a first-of-its-kind enforcement action
Kim called a news conference at UN headquarters on Tuesday to further criticise the ship’s seizure.
US seizes North Korean coal ship, accuses Pyongyang of violating sanctions
US Justice Department lawyers laid out the case for confiscating the ship in a complaint filed in New York, arguing that payments for maintenance and operation of the vessel were channelled through unwitting US financial institutions in violation of American law. North Korea’s coal trade itself is also believed to fund the isolated country’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes which the US is seeking to eliminate.
Kim and Trump agreed then to a vague statement calling for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and improved bilateral ties, but a second meeting between the leaders collapsed in February over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.
The US announcement of the seizure of the Wise Honest came hours after North Korea fired two suspected short-range missiles toward the sea, the second weapons launch in five days and a possible signal that stalled talks over its nuclear weapons program are in trouble.
The North Korean ambassador said in the letter to Guterres that “since international concern is growing more than ever over the likely impact to be brought to the situation of the Korean peninsula by the heinous act of the United States” in seizing the ship, the secretary general should take “urgent measures” to stabilise the Korean peninsula. The letter did not specify what those measures should be.
