Kerry calls North Korea ‘a threat to the world’

As North Korea battles international isolation, the US has labelled North Korea as a threat. Nuclear-armed North Korea poses an “overt threat, a declared threat to the world”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Beijing on January 27. This comes in the wake of Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test earlier this month. The US has been pushing for a strong United Nations response to North Korea’s latest atomic blast which Pyongyang claimed was a miniaturized hydrogen bomb. The claim was however, largely dismissed by experts with enhanced sanctions. Things haven’t been smooth for North Korea internationally after the tests, as even China which is its chief diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, is reluctant to support its move. With the ties becoming strained in recent times between the two countries Beijing has refused to endorse its neighbour’s ambitions for nuclear weapons. US and China, both permanent members of the UN security council have agreed to try and resolve their differences to arrive at a new resolution. Mr Kerry addressed a joint news conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, during his visit to China.