The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations made a rare visit to Tokyo on Thursday, following a four-day trip to South Korea, as part of a push to bolster the U.N.’s relevance together with its two allies — which both currently sit on the Security Council — and counter nuclear-armed North Korea.
The U.S. will also continue to support the expansion of the U.N. Security Council, as well as the granting of a permanent seat to countries including Japan, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy to the U.N., said during an event at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on Thursday.
“The Security Council of 70 years ago does not reflect the realities of today,” Thomas-Greenfield said, noting that the U.S. shifted its stance toward supporting Security Council reform in 2021.
“It is something that we are absolutely committed to, and we are working to bring it to fruition,” she added.
Thomas-Greenfield was making the tour of the United States’ two most important allies in the Asia-Pacific region following a March 28 veto by Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, to extend the term of an expert panel that previously monitored North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and helped inform decisions on U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang over the last 15 years.
Ties between Pyongyang and Moscow have seen a marked improvement in recent years, with Washington and Seoul accusing North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia in the latter’s ongoing war in Ukraine — an accusation that both countries have denied.
China, another permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and North Korea’s closest ally, abstained from the March 28 vote.
A vote in favor would have extended the mandate of the panel for another year, but the veto now effectively leaves the U.N. without a monitoring mechanism as Pyongyang ramps up its ever-improving missile program.
The Security Council vote was the latest example of how the body — and the larger U.N. General Assembly — has faced headwinds amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza Strip and the growing Sino-U.S. rivalry.
Thomas-Greenfield said during a news conference in Seoul on Wednesday that she has discussed with South Korean officials alternative options for a new mechanism both inside and outside of the U.N. framework.
Options that the U.S., South Korea and Japan are discussing include calling for a vote in the General Assembly, discussions with the U.N. Secretariat and bringing outside sources to fulfill the functions of the panel of experts, Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday, while stressing that the sanctions against Pyongyang are still in place.
Thomas-Greenfield met with North Korean escapees in Seoul earlier this week and visited the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, where she called again for “dialogue without preconditions” with Pyongyang.
In Tokyo on Thursday, she met with families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, reassuring them of the United States’ ongoing commitment to helping resolve the issue.
“Let me assure you that this commitment is not dependent on any political party or administration, but is rooted in the deeply-rooted bonds between our countries and our people,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“Please know that this administration (of President Joe Biden) remains committed to raising this issue at every opportunity and calling for the return of abducted Japanese citizens to their families,” she added.
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