"The solution can only be political. Military action could cause devastation on a scale that would take generations to overcome," Guterres told reporters at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York.
Noting that nuclear and missile tests by the North Korea have created great instability and tension on the Korean peninsula, throughout the region and beyond, the UN Secretary General said unity in the Security Council is critical.
"But Security Council unity also creates an opportunity for diplomatic engagement - an opportunity that must be seized," Guterres said.
Meanwhile in an interview to Atlantic Council, a top American think-tank, Nicholas Burns, a former top American diplomat said that the new sanctions imposed by UN Security Council on North Korea are not enough.
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"We are in a new and dangerous phase of the crisis following the apparent hydrogen bomb test and also the ballistic missile firing by North Korea over Hokkaido," Burns said.
"The world community has got to take stronger actions against North Korea to convince the North Koreans to freeze their nuclear program and agree to negotiations to try to diminish this crisis," he said.
Noting that the Chinese have a direct interest here, he said, but they are hesitating in deepening their own leverage and coercion against North Korea.
"It is certainly true that the Chinese worry that any kind of crisis that could weaken or destroy North Korea and could lead to the unification of the Korean Peninsula with its capital in Seoul-a country that is aligned with the United States-is not in China's interests," he said.
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