Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges renewed nuclear test ban talks.
(NEW YORK) - The following statement was issued Monday by the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:
"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the news that the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has conducted a nuclear test, in spite of repeated worldwide efforts to discourage it from doing so.
This action violates international norms of disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as the current international moratorium on nuclear testing.
It aggravates regional tensions in and around the Korean peninsula, and jeopardizes security both in the region and beyond.
The Secretary-General calls on all parties to respond to this grave challenge in a constructive manner, and calls for serious negotiations to be renewed urgently in the framework of the six-party talks.
The Secretary-General views this test as yet another reason for the international community to renew its collective effort to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty into force and to make progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament."
UN Secretary-General Deeply Concerned by North Korea Nuclear TestSalem-News.com