The most senior UN diplomat to travel to North Korea in five years has emphasised “the urgent need to prevent miscalculations and open channels to reduce the risks of conflict.”
The UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, travelled to North Korea from 5-8 December for talks with representatives of Kim Jong-un as threats of war rise in the Korean Peninsula.
The US State Department has insisted Mr Feltman represents the UN and not the US.
The hermit kingdom said it has agreed to regular communications with the UN.
Mr Feltman’s visit comes at a time when the UN Security Council is at a deadlock on further sanctions.
Mr Feltman, who is a former President George W. Bush appointee, met with Pyongyang’s Minister of Foreign Affairs RI Yong Ho, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, PAK Myong Guk whilst in North Korea.
The UN diplomat said that “the international community, alarmed by escalating tensions, is committed to the achievement of a peaceful solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
Mr Feltman was accompanied by several UN diplomats and met with the United Nations Country Team and visited UN project sites.
During the site visits he “learned about the UN’s life-saving work on the ground as well as the challenges in procurement and funding gaps.”
UN Department of Political Affairs’ José Luis Díaz, a member of the Strategic Communications and Public Affairs division who often serves as the spokesperson for Mr Feltman, told CBS News that Mr Feltman will brief the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Cho Tae-yul believes Mr Feltman’s trip on behalf of the UN is “part of its so-called preventative diplomacy.”
North Korea’s state-controlled media, KCNA, said: “Under-Secretary-General became aware that sanctions are having a negative impact on the field of humanitarian cooperation and expressed his intention to put in efforts to ensure that the cooperation is carried out in accordance with its humanitarian mission.
“The DPRK side and the UN Secretariat side acknowledged that Under-Secretary-General’s visit to the DPRK contributed to promoting trust between the two sides and agreed to have regular exchanges of opinions through frequent exchanges of visits at various levels.”
UN expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Gowan, thinks Mr Feltman is making the point to be diplomatic and open doors for the UN.
He said: “It looks like the U.N. is trying to be fair with both Pyongyang and Washington, emphasizing the need for DPRK to obey Security Council resolutions, while also hinting at international concerns that the Trump administration is escalating the conflict and risks ‘miscalculations’ with its warlike rhetoric.”
Before Mr Feltman left Pyongyang, he told the Security Council that he met with North Korea’s Ambassador Ja Song Nam to tell him to cease taking destabilizing steps.
He said: ”Desist from taking any further destabilizing steps” adding that this “is the 13th time the Council has met to discuss North Korea.”
Mr Feltman said that he told the North Koreans, “there can only be a diplomatic solution to the situation, achieved through a process of sincere dialogue” and they “agreed that the current situation was the most tense and dangerous peace and security issue in the world today.”