UN chief says statesmanship needed on N Korea

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Tuesday for statesmanship to avoid war with North Korea and criticised world leaders who stoke resentment over refugees for political gain, two digs at US President Donald Trump. In his first address to the annual 193-member UN General Assembly since taking office in January, Guterres said the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme must be solved through a political process. “This is the time for statesmanship,” said the former prime minister of Portugal. “We must not sleepwalk our way into war.” Trump has warned North Korea that military action was an option for the United States as Pyongyang has carried out a series of tests toward developing the ability to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.