On Sunday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui stated that countries participating in the newly established North Korea sanctions monitoring system led by the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), will pay a “dear price.”
Choe made this assertion in a statement distributed through the Korean Central News Agency, claiming that the MSMT is entirely “illegal” and “unlawful” in both its justification and purpose. She emphasized that “The U.S.-led sanctions against the DPRK are by no means a new experience for us. However, the unilateral behavior of the U.S., obsessed with the suicidal concept of pressure without sound thinking and sense of reality, and of some countries blindly following it has emerged as a threatening entity shaking international relations to their foundations and seriously polluting the world security environment.“
Choe further noted, “Wrong practice is bound to entail an inevitable reaction and corresponding punishment,” and warned that if the U.S. seeks to control the world through high-handed and arbitrary practices, it will earlier bring about the emergence of the anti-U.S. global solidarity structure.
The MSMT, launched on October 16 with the participation of 11 countries, replaces the expert panel under the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that ceased operations in late April due to Russia’s veto. Although it operates outside the UN, the MSMT will investigate suspected violations of North Korea sanctions resolutions, and issue reports similar to those of the expert panel.
Regarding the drone incursions over Pyongyang, Choe also brought up the issue of American responsibility by addressing the U.S. will pay the dear price by recalling the criminal actions of South Korea that violate our national sovereignty and have led to today’s anger.
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