Security Council: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Note: A complete summary of today's Security Council meeting on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will be made available after its conclusion.
Briefing
KHALED KHIARI, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the United Nations Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea launched its Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on 12 July, its second firing of its new solid-fuel type, which does not need to undergo fuelling prior to launch and thus can be launched more quickly than the liquid-fuel type. The missile is reported to have flown for 1,001.2 kilometres to an altitude of 6,648.4 kilometres before falling into the sea, inside the Russian Federation’s exclusive economic zone. The flight was reportedly around 74 minutes, potentially making it the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s longest ballistic missile flight duration. The systems Pyongyang tested on 12 July, 13 April, 16 March, 18 February this year, as well as on five occasions last year, “can reach most points on Earth”, he said.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea did not issue airspace or maritime safety notifications for this launch, he noted, cautioning that the unannounced launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic. He then called on Pyongyang to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions and resume dialogue without preconditions towards sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea significantly increased its missile launch activities in 2022 and 2023, including more than 90 launches using ballistic-missile technology. It also attempted to launch its first military satellite with what it described as a “new-type carrier rocket” using ballistic-missile technology on 31 May. While it is the right of any sovereign State to launch a satellite and benefit from peaceful space activities, the relevant Council resolutions expressly prohibit Pyongyang from conducting any launches using ballistic-missile technology.
Welcoming the Council’s commitment, as expressed in resolution 2397 (2017), to a peaceful, comprehensive, diplomatic and political solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, he pointed out that the lack of unity and action in the Council does little to slow the negative trajectory. In a fortnight, the seventieth anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement will be observed. “It is a tragic reality that tensions persist and remain unresolved even after seven decades,” he said, outlining several practical measures that can be taken, including re-establishing communication channels, particularly those between military entities to avoid an unintended escalation. Turning to the humanitarian situation in that country, he expressed the United Nations’ readiness to assist Pyongyang in addressing basic needs of its vulnerable populations. Given that COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, he urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to allow the unimpeded re-entry and rotation of the international community, including United Nations staff and the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
Statements
JEFFREY DELAURENTIS (United States) condemned in the strongest possible terms the 12 July launch of an intercontinental ballistic-missile launch, which is alarming — although “hardly surprising” — given the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s launch of as many as 20 ballistic missiles in 2023, including 4 intercontinental ones, in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions. He voiced alarm over these tests of nuclear-weapon delivery systems, following threatening statements against United States aircrafts operating in international airspace. Against this backdrop, he underscored the urgent need for the Council to unite to counter nuclear proliferation, as it did in 2017, when the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea last participated in a briefing.
However, today, two members of the Council — the Russian Federation and China — are preventing the 15-nation organ from speaking with one voice, he added, observing that the Council’s resultant inaction has “emboldened, even encouraged” Pyongyang to continue with their transgressions. The actions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea “make a mockery of the Council”, he said, urging that country to engage in dialogue with no preconditions. Calling the status quo “untenable”, he called on all Council members to denounce Pyongyang’s unlawful behaviour and implement all relevant resolutions.
NICOLAS DE RIVIÈRE (France), noting that the Council has remained disunited in silence, said it cannot resign itself to inaction. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has launched 20 ballistic missiles in 2023. This is a flagrant violation of numerous Council resolutions, he stressed, voicing concern about the escalation in the last few weeks and Pyongyang declaring itself as an irreversible nuclear Power. “Doing nothing or being complacent with North Korea is tantamount to trivializing nuclear proliferation,” he stressed, adding that France will not resign itself to that country becoming a nuclear State. To halt the escalation, all unanimously adopted international sanctions must be fully applied and all forms of circumvention must be combated, including in the cyber- and maritime spheres. In the face of those provocations, the priority is to resume dialogue without preconditions, so that Pyongyang abandons its programme in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, he said.
ALBANA DAUTLLARI (Albania) said Pyongyang is gravely violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child through ordering children to collect scrap metal that can be used in weapons manufacturing. Deploring militarization of children by the regime, she called on the Council to react against such policies. As de-escalation measures, she called on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to reinstate the moratorium on launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which was abolished last year, stop cyberattacks and destabilizing actions, respect fundamental human rights through the implementations of the conventions that Pyongyang has ratified, and refrain from conducting a seventh nuclear test.
SHINO MITSUKO (Japan) expressed her greatest regret that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea launched yet another intercontinental ballistic missile, which is estimated to have landed in waters near Japan, just 250 kilometres from Hokkaido. It endangered vessels, exposed aircraft to great risk, and terrified Japanese citizens. Calculations based on the flight trajectory indicate that the estimated capable range of the missile could exceed 15,000 kilometres, meaning all of Asia, Europe, North America and Africa and even part of South America would be within the range of this delivery system that could carry unlawful nuclear warheads.
The Council unanimously adopted resolution 2397 (2017), the most recent resolution adopted in the face of threats posed by Pyongyang, in which, the 15‑member organ decided to act if that country were to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile or conduct a nuclear test, he noted. Asking how many such missiles have been launched without the Council taking any action, she urged Pyongyang to immediately and fully comply with all relevant resolutions and resume substantive dialogue with the countries concerned toward complete denuclearization. “The path to dialogue remains open,” she emphasized.
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