UN chief affirms support for denuclearized North Korea

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proclaimed unwavering U.N. commitment to a fully denuclearized North Korea, even as a divided Security Council allows more room for the isolated country to expand its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Guterres, meeting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Friday, said he affirms the U.N.’s “clear commitment to the full, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and DPRK,” using the initials of North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea has test-fired more than 30 ballistic missiles this year as leader Kim Jong Un pushes to advance his nuclear arsenal in the face of what Pyongyang has called “gangster-like” U.S.-led pressure and sanctions.