During a short but wide- ranging press conference on Monday, United Nations Secretary- general Ban
Ki-moon said he would continue to closely follow several high-profile issues that continue to beleaguer the international community.
On the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Ban urged the country to return to the Six-Party Talks, which includes China, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States.
"I would like to reiterate for renewed effort to solve all outstanding issues through dialogue in a peaceful manner on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said. "As secretary- general, I will exert all my
possible efforts to help such a process move on."
The DPRK said Monday it would discuss reaching a peace treaty with relevant state parties in the framework of the Six-Party Talks to replace the Armistice Agreement but cited UN sanctions as a barrier to such an arrangement.
On the Middle East peace process, Ban said he was concerned that efforts to bring Israel and Palestine back to the negotiating table were
stalled.
"I have been urging to all the leaders, particularly the leaders of Israel and Palestine, to come back to the negotiating table," he said. "I know that there are some conditions, political difficulties, for parties to come to the dialogue table at this time but it would be much desirable that the parties remain inside the negotiating process."
Both Palestine and Israel have refused to engage in dialogue until certain preconditions are met, including the halt of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the complete cessation of rockets fired into Israel from
Gaza.
Israel recently warned that they will retaliate if any more rockets are fired from Gaza and announced the construction of a wall along the Egyptian border, despite that the UN's primary judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, has denounced the structure as illegal.
Ban said he spoke with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and announced that he will meet with Amre Moussa, the secretary- general of the League of Arab States, a regional organization of 22 Arab states.
On a Sri Lankan video purportedly showing two Tamil men being bound, blindfolded and executed during the final days of the government's offensive against the Tamil rebels, Ban said he will continue to follow developments
but did not indicate whether he would call for an investigation.
Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, urged on Thursday for an independent investigation after a forensic
pathologist, a forensic video analyst and a firearms expert concluded that the video was likely authentic. Sri Lanka maintains the video is a fake and rebuffed calls for a UN-led inquiry.
The UN chief said that besides the video, there are a number of outstanding issues concerning the aftermath of Sri Lanka's bloody 25-year civil war, including the relocation of Tamils to their homes in the north, political reconciliation and accountability for alleged humanitarian crimes.