UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the attack by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) on the South Korean island. He said that the incident may as well be one of the most serious since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The artillery attack initiated by North Korea on the South Korean island of Yeongpyeong provoked worldwide concern and the escalation of tensions between the two countries is deeply unsettling, according to the statement.
North Korea fired artillery shells at the island early Tuesday morning, resulting in the death of two soldiers. Ban Ki-moon, former foreign affairs minister in South Korea, insisted that the two countries settle their disputes through dialogue and peaceful means.
Reportedly, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concerns in November to the president of the UN Security Council, British Ambassador Lyall Grant.
A diplomat within the Security Council told the media that the council was supposed to discuss the Korean peninsula situation at the end of a closed door meeting for consultations on the Middle East on Tuesday. It was unclear, however, whether the Security Council would issue a statement after the talks or just schedule a separate meeting to discuss the incident.
