- US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield plans border visit to North Korea.
- She aims to engage with North Korean defectors in South Korea.
- The trip follows setbacks in UN sanctions enforcement due to Russia’s veto.
Eko hot blog reports that In a bold move, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is gearing up for a significant journey to the Korean border, accompanied by meetings with North Korean defectors in South Korea.
Scheduled for April 14-20, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s trip follows Russia’s recent rejection of the annual renewal of a crucial multinational panel of experts tasked with enforcing U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
This setback, compounded by China’s abstention, poses a serious challenge to ongoing efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Criticism from Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo has been swift, with South Korean officials likening the move to “destroying a CCTV to avoid being caught red-handed.”
The primary objective of Thomas-Greenfield’s visit, which will also include a stop in Japan, is to bolster bilateral and trilateral cooperation on sanctions enforcement and broader regional stability.
Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the U.N., emphasized the importance of maintaining independent and accurate reporting on North Korea’s activities related to weapons proliferation and sanctions evasion.
During her time in South Korea, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield plans to venture to the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating North and South Korea.
Additionally, she’ll engage with young North Korean defectors and students at Ewha Womans University.
In Japan, her itinerary includes meetings with family members of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the early 2000s, as well as a visit to Nagasaki, a poignant reminder of the devastating impact of nuclear warfare.