(Eagle News) — Canada on Tuesday reiterated calls for North Korea to cease developing its nuclear program, with its leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, issuing a strong statement the Asian country should “immediately cease all activities” that could endanger security in the region.
“As tensions in North Korea arise, Canada stands united with the Asian continent and the world in our demand that North Korea (do this),” Trudeau said in his speech at the start of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Canada 40th Anniversary Commemorative Summit.
Trudeau’s strong pronouncement comes months after he refused to be drawn into the word war ensuing between United States Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with Kim at one point calling his American counterpart “deranged,” and a “rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire,” and Trump calling Kim the “Rocket Man.”
Although Trudeau then acknowledged the “North Korea regime represents a threat to not just regional security but global peace,” he said that it was “not (his) job to opine,” and that Canada “stays focused on de-escalating the situation..through diplomatic means.”
Trudeau, who was the first prime minister from Canada to face the regional bloc, said in his speech that it was important for North Korea to stand by United Nations Security Council agreements to keep the peace.
“As leaders, we want similar things. We want people to be safer, air to be clean and communities to be strong,” he said.
