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Speaking about a possible visit to North Korea during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club on Dec. 14

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization and a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue, while hinting that he may visit the North if necessary to mediate dialogue.

“I think we all want to avoid that things get out of control and that misperceptions and mishandling of situations make us sleepwalk into a war that will have devastating consequences,” Guterres said during a Dec. 14 press conference at the Japan National Press Club. The UN Secretary General had arrived in Tokyo the evening before for a two-day visit to attend a forum on universal health care coverage.

Guterres mentioned a “peaceful resolution” to the North Korean nuclear issue no fewer than nine times during the 32-minute press conference.

“Dialogue must have an objective…the objective for us is to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to do it in a peaceful manner,” he said, stressing that dialogue was essential to achieve this.

When asked about US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s Dec. 12 remarks about having a conversation with Pyongyang “without preconditions,” Guterres said, “It is my deep belief that meaningful engagement is necessary between the parties and that engagement should have the objective of a denuclearized Korean peninsula obtained in peace.”

“We need to be able to achieve the goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and to achieve it through diplomatic engagement,” he stressed.

Previously, UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs visited North Korea on Dec. 5–9 to meet with numerous high-ranking officials, including Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong. When asked about the outcome of Feltman’s trip, Guterres replied, “In discreet diplomacy, it is difficult to measure an immediate result of any initiative.”

“The message was conveyed . . . [that] there must be a sense of urgency in creating the conditions for a meaningful dialogue to achieve the denuclearization of the Peninsula,” he said.

Guterres avoided a direct answer then asked whether Pyongyang had Feltman relay a request for him to visit North Korea.

“It was an invitation for Undersecretary Feltman to visit North Korea and there was a decision based on our evaluation of the situation that that invitation should be accepted,” he said.

When asked subsequently if he did intend to visit North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong-un, Guterres said he was “ready to go anywhere, at any time when it is useful.”

“But I am not aiming at a protagonism just to appear in the cameras of the televisions,” he added.

“We did what was accepted by all parties [with a North Korea visit]. We did it in the way we thought it was the best way to do it,” he continued.

“We are available, but we can only mediate when both parties [North Korea and the US] accept our mediation.”

Meeting on Dec. 14 with South Korean correspondents at the UN headquarters after returning from North Korea, Feltman said he had proposed two forms of communication: reopening various inter-Korean channels including military dialogue, and North Korean participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Feltman explained that he had stressed the importance of inter-Korean dialogue and a strategic level of communication to peacefully and diplomatically resolve the nuclear issue, adding that North Korean officials had listened attentively to his proposal for North Korea to take part in the Olympics, while asking questions and writing notes. But he also said no prediction could be made on whether North Korea would actually participate.

By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter

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