UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Despite the many "hiccups," there are "good possibilities" for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.
The UN chief was asked at a news conference at the UN Headquarters about the "hiccup" in recent talks between senior officials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, in which the DPRK accused Washington of seeking unilateral denuclearization of the country.
"I think, first of all, hiccups in a process like this, there will be many, inevitably," Guterres said. "But, I think there are very good possibilities for this dialogue to lead to a positive solution, I mean peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Noting that it is in the UN's interest to "support the interests of the two member states," Guterres called for the "need to persist and to ask all countries in the region to help facilitate things for agreements to be reached."
He said the UN's specialized agencies are "at the disposal of the parties," adding UN bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency has already been in contact with Pyongyang.
"There are things that technically can be done by us, but of course they depend on the dynamics of the political negotiations between the parties," Guterres said, adding the UN is "available to do whatever is useful."
