North Korea calls UN command a 'war tool' of U.S., repeats demand for its dissolution

North Korea on Monday called for the dissolution of the UN Command as it claimed an upcoming meeting of defense ministers from South Korea and UNC member states entailed a “dangerous scheme” to plan a “new war of aggression” against the North.

Unification Ministry spokesperson Koo Byung-sam calls for questions from reporters at a press briefing held at the Central Government Complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

North Korea on Monday called for the dissolution of the United Nations Command (UNC) as it claimed an upcoming meeting of defense ministers from South Korea and UNC member states entailed a “dangerous scheme” to plan a “new war of aggression” against the North.

In a statement carried by Pyongyang’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North’s foreign ministry alleged that the multinational UNC, which is headed by the commander of United States Forces Korea and staffed by military officers from member states, is a “war tool” of Washington and its allies.

“The UNC, which should have been dissolved decades ago, is now revealing its aggressive nature again, seeking to cook up a declaration of confrontation simulating the second Korean war,” the ministry said.

The ministry also accused the U.S.-led command of intending to transform tensions on the Korean Peninsula into a “war-oriented structure.”

Defense ministers and representatives from 17 UNC member states and South Korea are due to hold their first-ever meeting on Tuesday in Seoul to examine the role of the multinational command in deterring war on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace.

The UNC was established at the beginning of the Korean War in July 1950 with a UN mandate to restore peace on the peninsula after the North launched an invasion of South Korea the previous month.

Since the war, the command has been responsible for upholding the 1953 armistice that halted active hostilities.

The command was formally responsible for South Korea’s defense until that duty was passed onto the South Korea-U. S. Combined Forces Command in 1978.

Pyongyang’s foreign ministry claimed in its Monday statement that the inaugural South Korea-UNC defense representatives’ meeting is a “dangerous scheme to ignite a new war of aggression” against the North.

Tensions on the peninsula have risen in recent years after the North conducted a series of high-profile weapons tests, including launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the continental United States.

In response, Washington has increased the regularity of its deployment of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding region, such as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and missile submarines, while also conducting large-scale joint military drills with Seoul.

The North’s foreign ministry demanded that the “illegal and aggressive” UNC should be “dissolved without delay,” calling it an “essential prerequisite for restoring the authority and impartiality of the UN and promoting peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.”

Officials participating in Tuesday’s meeting plan to urge Pyongyang to cease its “unlawful activities” and abide by UN Security Council resolutions, which bar tests of ballistic missile technology by the North, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.

The ministry also said they would likely adopt a joint declaration calling for a collective response should contingencies arise on the peninsula.

According to sources who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is reviewing the possible inclusion of a South Korean major general in the UNC.

The Yoon administration is expected to propose ways to increase Seoul’s participation in the command at Tuesday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Unification Ministry condemned the North’s oft-repeated call for the UNC’s disestablishment as “far-fetched.”

Ministry spokesman Koo Byung-sam called the UNC “a model of international solidarity” that has played “an essential role in safeguarding the freedom and peace” of South Korea since its inception.

Koo also criticized Pyongyang for its claim that the Korean War started with a U.S. invasion of the North, characterizing it as being based on lies.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]