United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday proclaimed unwavering U.N. commitment to a fully denuclearized North Korea, even as a divided Security Council allows more room for the isolated country to expand its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Meeting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, Guterres said he affirms the U.N.’s “clear commitment to the full, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and DPRK,” using the initials of North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “There’s a fundamental objective to bring peace, security and stability to the whole region,” he told Yoon, while also praising South Korea’s participation in international peacekeeping efforts and fighting climate change. Guterres, who arrived in South Korea on Thursday, later met with South Korean Foreign Minster Park Jin for discussions that were expected to be centered around the North Korean nuclear threat. Also read: UN chief warns world is one step from 'nuclear annihilation' North Korea has test-fired more than 30 ballistic missiles this year, including its first flights of intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017, as leader Kim Jong Un pushes to advance his nuclear arsenal in the face of what North Korea has called “gangster-like” U.S.-led pressure and sanctions. The unusually fast pace in weapons demonstrations also underscore brinkmanship aimed at forcing Washington to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and negotiating badly needed sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength, experts say. The U.S. and South Korean governments have also said the North is gearing up to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have detonated a nuclear warhead designed for its ICBMs. While the Biden administration has said it would push for additional sanctions if North Korea conducts another nuclear test, the prospects for meaningful punitive measures are unclear. China and Russia recently vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions at the U.N. Security Council that would have increased sanctions on the North over some of its ballistic missile testing this year, underscoring division between the council’s permanent members that has deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine. Guterres’ meetings with South Korean officials came a day after North Korea claimed a widely disputed victory over COVID-19 but also blamed rival South Korea for the outbreak, vowing “deadly” retaliation. The North insists its initial infections were caused by leaflets and other objects flown across the border on balloons launched by South Korea's anti-Pyongyang activists, a claim Seoul describes as unscientific and “ridiculous." Also read: UN chief lauds Bangladesh’s socio-economic development North Korea has a history of dialing up pressure on the South when it doesn’t get what it wants from the United States, and there are concerns that North Korea's threat portends a provocation, which might include nuclear or missile tests or even border skirmishes.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will deliver her speech virtually at the "Leaders Summit on Climate" on Thursday highlighting the climate-related challenges Bangladesh faces and the efforts it is undertaking. Prime Minister Hasina, also President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), will address the inaugural session of the Summit titled "Raising Our Climate Ambition" with other global leaders, an official told UNB. US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will open the inaugural session of the two-day Summit at 6pm (Bangladesh Time). This session will underscore the urgent need for the world’s major economies to strengthen their climate ambition by the time of COP 26 to keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. It will provide an opportunity for leaders to announce new steps to strengthen climate ambition.    United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will also join. Also read: FM: Bangladesh’s points to be on agenda of Biden's Climate Summit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Russian President Vladimir Puti, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among participants invited by the US President. The second session will be on "Investing in Climate Solutions."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged the international community to continue to reach all Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for immediate attention to three global emergencies after listing a long string of threats and challenges the world is facing.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the names of seven young climate leaders – between the ages of 18 and 28 years – who will advise him regularly on accelerating global action and ambition to tackle the worsening climate crisis.

A desperate yearning for a long-departed mother. Reaching deep from the bowels of fragile humanity. Grasping for breath. Begging for mercy. The entire world heard the tragic cry. The family of nations saw his face pounded against the harsh tarmac. Unbearable pain in broad daylight. A neck buckling under the knee and weight of history. A gentle giant, desperately clinging to life. Yearning to breathe free. Till his last breath.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday appealed for "people everywhere" to support migrants as the World Bank projected that remittances will fall by about 20 percent.