North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister
Kim Son-kyong (left), North Korean vice foreign minister for international organizations, leaves Pyongyang to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda. (Photo from the website of the North Korean Central News Agency, KCNA. For use in South Korea only and redistribution prohibited)
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) — The North Korean delegation sent to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kampala, Uganda, claimed measures taken to strengthen defense in the face of security instability caused by U.S. military actions and others is a legitimate exercise of sovereignty, according to a report published by the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday. The North’s official media reported that the North Korean delegation attended the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement from January 19 to 20 (local time).
At the head of this delegation, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-kyong gave a speech in which he said that “since the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement, history has advanced and the century has also changed but, on the international scene, authoritarian power and despotism still persist, seriously harming the rights of sovereignty and survival of the member countries of this movement”, continuing that “the phenomenon which threatens the rights of sovereignty, of survival and development is especially common on the Korean peninsula.”
Promising his country’s contribution to the international movement of non-aligned countries, Kim added that “the reality today is to observe that a ghost haunts the world, it is a new cold war comparable to the beginning of the cold war between East and West in the last century”, “the word ‘war’ no longer remains a metaphorical notion but comes to us as a physical reality.” He concluded that it is necessary to seek to complement the military posture and competence to respond to war in an overwhelming manner.
The North Korean delegation left Pyongyang on January 13 for this summit of the Non-Aligned Movement bringing together 120 member countries. North Korea joined in 1975. It is also participating in the 3rd South Summit or G77+China Summit, which is being held until Monday (local time).
jhoh@yna.co.kr
(FIN)
2024-01-22 02:17:18
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