North Korea criticizes, calls for G7 to disband

North Korea has criticised the G7 after the bloc's foreign ministers issued a joint statement criticising Pyongyang, saying the group should be disbanded immediately.

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries concluded a two-day meeting in Japan on November 8 and issued a joint statement condemning North Korea's ballistic missile program. Jo Chol-su, director general of the international organizations department at the North Korean Foreign Ministry , "resolutely rejected and strongly condemned the joint statement containing unreasonable and groundless accusations" against Pyongyang, the North's state news agency KCNA reported on November 14.

Mr. Jo believes that the G7 only represents the interests of a few countries and cannot represent the international community. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

"The G7, a relic of the Cold War, should be dissolved immediately," Jo said. "This would be the first step toward easing the current international crisis and restoring world peace ."

Mr. Jo Chol-su in November 2019, when he was director of the US affairs department at the North Korean Foreign Ministry . Photo: Yonhap

In a joint statement last week, G7 foreign ministers condemned North Korea's missile program and reiterated their call for "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." The G7 also criticized North Korea, regarding information that it supplied weapons to Russia, calling on Pyongyang and Moscow to "immediately cease such actions."

Mr. Jo commented in the context that South Korea is hosting representatives from 17 member countries of the United Nations Command (UNC) and holding a conference in Seoul on November 14 to determine the UNC's role in preventing war from happening on the Korean Peninsula.

The UNC is a multinational military force led by the United States, established in 1950, when the Korean War broke out. The UNC currently supervises the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War. This force is present in South Korea because, technically, South Korea and North Korea have not signed a peace treaty and are still in a state of war. The UNC includes several members such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, etc.

North Korea on November 13 criticized the move, saying the UNC "should have been disbanded decades ago."

European Union diplomat Josep Borrell (left) and foreign ministers of G7 countries pose for a group photo in Tokyo, Japan on November 8. Photo: AFP

Nhu Tam (According to AFP, Yonhap )

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