UN chief concerned over DPRK decision on six-party talks

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here on Wednesday that he is concerned over the recent decision of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to walk away from the six-party talks.
At his monthly press briefing, Ban said that the international community will not accept nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula and expressed his dismay that the DPRK was shutting down channels of communication. However, the secretary-general voiced his support for a possible direct engagement between DPRK and the United States. Earlier this month, the DPRK said it was walking away from the six-party talks for good but signaled it was willing to speak with the United States one-on-one. Ban said he "supported and welcomed" bilateral discussion between the DPRK and the U.S. administration. "While I believe that six-party talks provide a good way for a solution, if necessary, there should be some other forms of dialogue," he said, "and I am encouraged by the willingness of DPRK authorities to engage in direct dialogue with the United States." U.S. President Barack Obama has said his administration is trying to "keep a door open" for the DPRK to return to the six-party dialogues, which also involves China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. The disarmament talks suspended since December 2008 due to sharp differences between the United States and the DPRK over, among others, the verification of the disable nuclear facilities. In another development, Ban told Xinhua at the press briefing that he is "deeply concerned" about a UN staff member working in Sudan who faces 40 lashes for wearing "indecent" trousers in public. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who works for the UN Mission in Sudan, has reportedly said she has not violated Sharia law but has disobeyed a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing. Hussein's trial has been adjourned for Aug. 4 but if she is found guilty, she will immediately be flogged, as were other women who were arrested with her. "The flogging is against international human rights standards," said Ban. "I call on parties to live up to their obligations under all relevant international instruments." "The United Nations will take every effort to ensure that the rights of its staff members are protected," he added. However, on Wednesday Hussein reportedly said she will give up immunity afforded UN staff workers and take the lashes to try to get the Sudanese law changed.