At the UN General Assembly, the first committee in charge of disarmament adopted three resolutions that included content related to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missiles. North Korea has argued that it opposes a political resolution based on double standards. Reporter Park Hyung-joo reports.
On the 27th, the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted three resolutions calling for the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The relevant resolutions adopted on this day are the ‘Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Resolution’, ‘Resolution for Joint Action and Future-Oriented Dialogue for a World Without Nuclear Weapons’, and ‘Resolution for a World Without Nuclear Weapons’.
First, the ‘Resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty’ emphasizes that it is very important and urgent to sign and ratify the treaty immediately, without conditions, in order to bring the treaty into effect as soon as possible.
North Korea is one of eight countries that have prevented the treaty from entering into force because it has not signed or ratified the treaty, which bans all nuclear tests.
45 countries including the UK, Canada, Korea and Japan jointly proposed the resolution, and three additional countries including Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Botswana were added to the list of joint proposals on the same day.
This resolution was processed without a separate vote at the request of the joint proponents.
[녹취: 제1위원회 의장] “The sponsors of draft resolution have expressed the wish that the draft resolution be adopted by the committee without votes…It is so decided that resolution L 49 is adopted.”
Regarding North Korea, the resolution contains content that reaffirms its position that it condemns North Korea’s six nuclear tests conducted in violation of resolutions related to the Security Council and urges North Korea to comply with its obligations under the resolutions.
At the same time, we reaffirmed our support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means.
It also welcomed efforts and dialogue for this purpose, including the inter-Korean summit and the U.S.-North Korea summit, and recommended that all parties continue such dialogue and efforts.
The ‘Resolution for Joint Action and Future-Oriented Dialogue for a World Without Nuclear Weapons’, jointly proposed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, was adopted with 152 votes in favor, 4 against, and 30 abstentions.
North Korea, along with China, Russia and Syria, opposed it.
Japan’s media reported that the number of countries in favor increased by 13 more than last year, with the United States, Britain, and France, the nuclear powers that abstained from last year, this time in favor.
The resolution recalled UN Security Council resolutions that called for the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, as well as other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It also states that it welcomes diplomatic efforts towards that goal.
Prior to the vote, Japan, which has been leading the submission of this resolution for 28 years since 1994, stressed that “it is important for the international community to maintain and strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a cornerstone of the international system for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.” I did.
[녹취: 일본 대표] “It is imperative for the international community to maintain and strengthen the NPT as the cornerstone of the international regime for nuclear disarmament and Non Proliferation.”
The resolution for a world without nuclear weapons, jointly proposed by 11 countries, including Austria, Ireland and New Zealand, was also passed with 135 votes in favor, 34 against, and 15 abstentions.
It urges North Korea to keep its promises to give up all nuclear weapons and its existing nuclear programs, to return to the NPT as soon as possible, and to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safety standards agreement. In addition, we support diplomatic efforts, such as holding a summit, and recommend continued dialogue.
In a remark before the vote, the North Korean representative argued that “hostile policies toward North Korea and double standards or blindly following the United States will only heighten tensions and aggravate the situation.”
They also countered that these resolutions were “completely biased and politically motivated,” and that “we therefore reject them.”
[녹취: 북한 대표] “Any attempt to blindly follow the US or hostile policy and double standard against the DPRK will only escalate the tensions and aggravated the situation. My delegation can do considers that a force that resolutions are totally biased and politically motivated and accordingly rejects them.”
Meanwhile, on the same day, the US delegation mentioned concerns about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and pointed out that the Assad regime in Syria has violated the NPT and continues to obstruct the activities of IAEA inspectors, including building a secret reactor for plutonium production with North Korea’s support in the past. .
[녹취: 미국 대표] “In Syria, the Assad Assad regime remains a non compliance with his IAEA safeguards agreement and the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty for constructing a clandestine plutonium production reactor, which it did with North Korean assistance, and continues to obstruct the IAEA investigation.”
The resolutions that have passed the 1st Committee this time will be finalized at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly in December.
This is Park Hyung-joo from VOA News.
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