US raises concern over increasing N Korean activities in Nepal

Kathmandu: Voicing concern over growing business activities of North Koreans in Nepal, the US has asked the Nepal government not to entertain North Koreans in the country stating that Nepal as a member of the UN should respect the decision taken by the global body to impose sanctions on the country.

Mark Lambert, special US envoy for North Korea, who is on a three-day visit to Nepal, made this appeal to lawmakers, senior government officials and ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the Himalayn Times reported Saturday.

Nepal became a member country of the UN in 1955. The UN has imposed a number of sanctions on North Korea after the country started developing nuclear weapons, in violation of the UN charter.

Lambert met four lawmakers Pabitra Niraula Kharel, Deepak Prakash Bhatta, Dibya Mani Rajbhandari and Sarala Kumari Yadav, during his visit.

Kharel is the chairperson of the parliamentary International Relations Committee, while the other three are members of the same panel. Lambert also met NCP Co-chair Dahal.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also raised the North Korean issue during Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali’s visit to the US in December.