U.S. President Joe Biden remained silent on the North Korea issue during his weekly high-level address at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the 24th (local time). This is a departure from his previous stance of criticizing North Korea for violating sanctions and emphasizing denuclearization diplomacy in his annual speech to the UN General Assembly since taking office.
In his speech that day, President Biden pointed out Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Gaza war, China’s coercion, Iran’s proxy forces, and the Sudanese civil war as geopolitical issues that the international community must work together on, but he did not mention North Korea. Even when he said that Iran would never have nuclear weapons, he did not mention North Korean nuclear weapons.
North Korea has always been criticized as a threat to the United States along with Russia, China, and Iran. In his first speech at the UN General Assembly after taking office in 2021, President Biden called for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and improvement of the lives of North Korean citizens. In 2022, he criticized, “Despite our efforts to initiate serious and sustained diplomacy, North Korea continues to blatantly violate UN sanctions.” Last year, he condemned North Korea for continuing to violate UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and once again emphasized his will to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
However, there are various interpretations of why North Korea was completely excluded from the mention this year. Some say it is because there are many serious international conflicts, such as the war in Gaza and Lebanon and the war in Ukraine. On the other hand, some say it is a ‘strategic neglect’ to bring about a change in North Korea’s attitude.
President Biden appealed to the international community for attention on the war in Ukraine, saying on this day, “Are we going to continue to support Ukraine so that they can win this war and preserve their freedom, or are we going to turn a blind eye to renewed aggression and the destruction of a nation?” He added, “We must not grow weary or turn away. We will not stop our support until Ukraine wins and achieves a just and lasting peace.”
He also appealed, saying, “We are stronger than we think. We are stronger together than we are alone,” and “If we work together, nothing is beyond our capabilities. Let’s work together.” Some have interpreted this as a remark made with former President Trump in mind, who has overlooked international organizations including the United Nations.
New York = Correspondent Im Woo-sun [email protected]
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2024-09-26 04:54:32