On
April 5, 2009, North Korea proceeded with its announced satellite launch,
despite international pressure not to do so. The pressure was due to
international belief that the "satellite" was in fact a test
of North Korea's Taepodong-2 ICBM. The launch was a failure, and it
landed in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the failure, U.S. President Barack
Obama responded that "violations must be punished," ordered
North Korea to be "punished." South Korea urged heavier sanctions
against North Korea.
On
April 13, 2009, the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously
to a Presidential Statement that condemned North Korea for the launch
and stated the Council's intention to expand sanctions on North Korea.
On
April 14, 2009, North Korea, responding angrily to the UN Security Council's
resolution, said that it "will never again take part in such [six
party] talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks."
North Korea expelled nuclear inspectors from the country and also informed
the International Atomic Energy Agency that they would resume their nuclear
weapons program.
On May 25,
2009, North Korea detonated a nuclear device underground. The test was
condemned by the United Nations, NATO, the other five members of the
Six-party talks, and many other countries worldwide.
International
reaction to the 2006 nuclear test
-
European Union: The European Union presidency said in a statement
that "This test profoundly jeopardizes regional stability and represents
a severe threat to international peace and security." Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
the Commissioner for External Relations, stated that the EU has no plans
to cut humanitarian aid to North Korea but stressed that the tests were
"unacceptable". She also reiterated calls by the EU Presidency
for North Korea to return to the six-nation talks and halt all testing
of nuclear devices.
-
International Atomic Energy Agency: The IAEA issued a statement saying
that the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei "deeply regrets,
and expresses serious concern, about the reported carrying-out of a
nuclear test earlier today by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK)," and that it "threatens the nuclear non-proliferation
regime and creates serious security challenges not only for the East
Asian region but also for the international community." ElBaradei
emphasised the affront caused by violating the de facto worldwide ban
against nuclear testing which had existed for almost a decade before
the North Korean test, and emphasised the need for all countries to
enter into the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
- NATO: The NATO military
alliance published a statement saying that it "condemns in the
strongest terms possible the North Korean nuclear weapon test. This
test poses an extremely serious threat to peace and security in the
Pacific region and the world." The alliance wants North Korea to
return to the six-party talks.
-
United Nations: The United Nations Security Council met on Monday,
October 9 in New York on an emergency session to discuss the issue. All
five veto-wielding permanent members, including China, once North Korea's
most supportive neighbour, condemned the nuclear test. Wang Guangya,
the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations had earlier
stated that "no one is going to protect North Korea" if it
engages in "bad behaviour". However, on October 10, dissensions
emerged within the Council over how exactly to tackle the problem. Japan
and the United States pressed for sanctions with the threat of military
action with U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations John
Bolton stating that while the United States had a “clear preference”
for a diplomatic solution, the threat of force was on the table. Chinese
President Hu Jintao however, called for the United States to "avoid
actions that may lead to escalation or loss of control of the situation".
International
reaction to the 2009 nuclear test
- Association of Southeast
Asian Nations: the 10 ASEAN leaders and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak
released a statement at the end of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative
Summit condemning North Korea's nuclear test and subsequent missile
launches as "clear violations" of UN Security Council resolutions
and the agreements reached at six-party nuclear disarmament talks. They
said peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was essential
to keep the regional peace and expressed full support for resumption
of the stalled six-party talks. "North Korea's underground test
is a serious threat to peace and security in Northeast Asia and beyond,"
Lee Myung-Bak said at the closing press conference, expressing "sincere
gratitude" to ASEAN's leaders for their statement.
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty Organization: The Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO's International
Monitoring System immediately detected the North Korean Nuclear test
with 38 of its seismic stations throughout the world. Within 24 hours
of this detection, CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth gave briefings
to both representatives from member states as well as the press on the
CTBTO findings.
-
European Union: The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned
the test. "These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm
response by the international community. The European Union will be
in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures,"
he said in a written statement.
-
Holy See: In a statement released by its newspaper, L’Osservatore
Romano, the Vatican has condemned the nuclear test and warned that acts
of aggression such as this threaten "the very survival" of
the country's own people by exacerbating its isolation.
- NATO: "These
irresponsible actions by Pyongyang pose a serious challenge to peace,
security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and are being universally
condemned by the international community," NATO said in a statement.
"We call upon Pyongyang to refrain from any other actions which
could contribute to raising tensions and to restore dialogue within
the Six-Party framework. The Alliance will continue to carefully monitor
developments with deep concern."
- Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe: OSCE chairwoman-in-Office and Greek
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis condemned North Korea's claimed nuclear
test, identifying it as a threat to stability in the region. "I
strongly condemn North Korea's declared nuclear test. I am deeply concerned
by this threat to regional and global stability," Bakoyannis added
in Athens. "Rather than enhancing its nuclear capabilities, North
Korea should return immediately to the six-party talks and avoid any
actions that would further heighten tensions."
-
United Nations: The Security Council unanimously condemned the test and
was quoted as saying that "The members of the Security Council
voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test
conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 25 May 2009,
which constitutes a clear violation of resolution 1718" and that
council members "have decided to start work immediately on a Security
Council resolution on this matter".
Perspectives
of denuclearization of Korean peninsula
Denuclearization
of the Korean peninsula remains as one of the most essential problems
of global security maintenance. The international organizations and
the government of DPRK haven’t come to a consensus till that moment.
It’s obvious that the international community should pay proper attention
to the problem. However it’s necessary to remember the principle of
the independent state sovereignty. Non-interference with the internal
affairs has to be the basic principle of international dialogue.
However,
undoubtedly, the connivance of displaying any forms of aggression or
violation of international law standards is categorically inadmissible.
North Korea has the right to use nuclear energy in peaceful purposes.
But nuclear tests may lead to further destabilization of the situation
in the region and also may threaten the security of the frontier countries.
The
United Nations and the world community expressed the concern for the
nuclear program of DPRK many times, in particular, nuclear tests 2006
and 2009. Six-party talks have helped to facilitate the situation for
some time, but haven’t had a long-term effect. Obviously there’s
a need for a new conceptual solution for the denuclearization issue.
Documents
recommended:
Security Councils Resolutions
- S/RES/825 UN Security Council Resolution 825
(1993) - called upon North Korea to reconsider withdrawing from
the non-proliferation treaty and to honour its non-proliferation obligations
under the treaty.
- S/RES/1540UN Security Council Resolution 1540
(2004) - affirmed that proliferation of nuclear weapons as well
as the means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace
and security.
- S/RES/1695 UN Security Council Resolution 1695
(2006) - condemned North Korea's launch of ballistic missiles.
- S/RES/1718UN Security Council Resolution 1718
(2006) - expressed grave concern over North Korea's nuclear test,
imposed sanctions and set up a sanctions committee.
- S/RES/1874UN Security Council Resolution 1874
(2009) - expressed grave concern over North Korea's 25 May nuclear
test and expanded the sanctions imposed on North Korea to include all
arms and related material, as well as financial transactions, technical
training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture,
maintenance or use of such arms or material.
- S/RES/1887 UN Security Council Resolution 1887
(2009) - was the resolution on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament
adopted at the meeting chaired by US President Obama, which inter
alia reaffirmed resolutions 825 (1993), 1695 (2006), 1718 (2006)
and 1874 (2009).
- S/RES/1928 UN Security Council Resolution 1928
(2010) - extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts that assists
the DPRK Sanctions Committee until 12 June 2011.
Statement by the President
of the Security Council
- S/PRST/2006/41 (6 October 2006) was the statement
expressing concern over North Korea's declaration that it would conduct
a nuclear test.
- S/PRST/2009/7 (13 April 2009) condemned the 5 April
launch of a rocket by DPRK, saying it was in contravention of resolution
1718.
Useful
web sources: