The North Korean mission to the United Nations issued a statement claiming the United States is “more and more hell-bent on hostile acts” against Pyongyang, saying that Washington is “obsessed with sanctions.”
The statement came Wednesday, days after President Trump met Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The mission said that their statement was responding to a letter that accused North Korea of surpassing a cap on refined petroleum imports.
The U.S., France, Britain, and Germany sent the letter to all U.N. members, imploring for sanctions against what is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The mission said that the letter was sent June 29, the day before Trump and Kim’s meeting.
“What can’t be overlooked is the fact that this joint letter game was carried out by the permanent mission of the United States to the U.N. under instruction of the State Department, on the very same day when President Trump proposed for the summit meeting,” the statement said.
The letter cited by North Korea’s U.N. mission was actually dated June 27, per a viewing of the letter by Reuters. It urges all U.N. member states to comply with Security Council sanctions requiring the repatriation of all North Korean workers by Dec. 22, 2019.
Since 2006, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously voted to increase sanctions against North Korea, attempting to restrict funding for their ballistic missile programs.
According to the North Korean mission, the letter exemplifies how “All UN member states will have to keep vigilance against deliberate attempts by the United States to undermine the peaceful atmosphere that has been created on the Korean Peninsula.”
During their meeting Sunday, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to step on North Korean soil.
