Envoys from South and North Korea clashed at the UN Conference on Disarmament over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to put the country under martial law on December 3. 

At the conference on Thursday, Ju Yong-chol, a North Korean diplomat at the North’s mission to the UN in Geneva, said South Korea should pay more attention to resolving its own political turmoil before criticizing other countries. 

Ju made the remarks in apparent reference to the political crisis in South Korea since Yoon issued and then rescinded his martial law decree, after the South Korean envoy said North Korea’s nuclear activities violate UN Security Council resolutions and are clearly illegal.

In response, Kim Il-hoon, a counselor at South Korea’s permanent mission to the UN office in Geneva, said he was pleased to see North Korea show an interest in democracy.

Kim then suggested the North Korean delegation observe South Korea’s democratic procedures and the resilience of South Korea’s democracy.