S/PV.8034 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. After consultations among Council members, I have been authorized to make the following statement on their behalf: “The Security Council strongly condemns the 28 August 2017 (local time) ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that flew over Japan, as well as the multiple ballistic missile launches it conducted on 25 August 2017. “The Security Council further condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its outrageous actions and demands that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea immediately cease all such actions. The Security Council stresses that these actions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are a threat not just to the region, but to all United Nations Member States. “The Security Council expresses its grave concern that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is, by conducting such a launch over Japan as well as its recent actions and public statements, deliberately undermining regional peace and stability and has caused grave security concerns around the world. “The Security Council, resolute in its commitment to a denuclearized Korean peninsula, emphasizes the vital importance of immediate, concrete actions to reduce tensions in the Korean peninsula and beyond. “The Security Council demands that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea not proceed with any further launches using ballistic missile technology and comply with resolutions 1695 (2006), 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013), 2270 (2016), 2321 (2016), 2356 (2017), and 2371 (2017), as well as the statements of its President of 6 October 2006 (S/PRST/2006/41), 13 April 2009 (S/PRST/2009/7) and 16 April 2012 (S/PRST/2012/13), by suspending all activities related to its ballistic missile programme and in this context re-establish its pre-existing commitments to a moratorium on missile launches. “The Security Council further demands that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea immediately comply fully with all of its other obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions, including that it shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and immediately cease all related activities; not conduct any further nuclear tests or any further provocation; and abandon any other existing weapons of mass destruction in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. “The Security Council calls on all States to strictly, fully, and expeditiously implement all relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013), 2270 (2016), 2321 (2016), 2356 (2017), and 2371 (2017). “The Security Council reiterates the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in North-East Asia at large, expresses its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation, and welcomes efforts by Council members, as well as other States, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2017/16. I shall now give the floor to members of the Council who wish to make statements.

We called for this meeting tonight knowing that we had to come away unified. I personally appreciate your commitment and willingness, Sir, to move quickly. Once again, all 15 members of the Security Council have spoken in unison. All of us — the United States, Japan, China, Russia, Europeans, Africans and South Americans — we are all together. And what are we saying? We are all denouncing North Korea’s outrageous act against another United Nations Member State, Japan. We are all demanding that North Korea stop any future missile launches. We are all demanding that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons. North Korea has violated every single Security Council resolution, and it has violated international law. We are all calling on every nation to strictly, fully and immediately implement all Security Council sanctions on North Korea. The world is united against North Korea. There is no doubt about that. It is time for the North Korean regime to recognize the danger it is putting itself in. The United States will not allow its lawlessness to continue, and the rest of the world is with us.

Japan wecomes the swift adoption of presidential statement S/PRST/2017/16, strongly condemning the most recent ballistic missile launched by North Korea, which flew over Japan, and also demanding that North Korea immediately cease all such actions. This demonstrates the unity of the Security Council and sends a strong and clear message to North Korea that the international community will not accept its reckless behaviour. We urge North Korea to respond immediately to this call by the international community. Japan will continue to work very closely with Council members and all other Member States to reach a comprehensive solution to the problems related to North Korea.

The relevant Security Council resolutions contain clear provisions regarding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s launch activities with ballistic missile technology. China opposes such launch activities by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in violation of Council resolutions. We call on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to comply with the provisions of the resolutions and on all relevant parties to exercise restraint, avoid mutually provocative actions that might exacerbate the situation in the region, and work together to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Resolution 2371 (2017), adopted by the Council on 5 August, provides for further sanctions against the nuclear and missile programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It calls for the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, pledges to seek a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the problem, and underscores the importance of de-escalation efforts on the part of the relevant parties. All parties involved should implement the relevant provisions of the resolutions of the Council in a comprehensive, integrated manner, avoid any rhetoric or action that might exacerbate tensions on the peninsula, and create the conditions necessary for the resumption of dialogue. The suspension-for-suspension proposal and the dual-track approach put forward by China represent a realistic and feasible formula for the proper settlement of the issue on the Korean peninsula. We hope that all the relevant parties will give it serious consideration and respond positively, working with China to open effective paths for the settlement of the peninsula issue. China has always been committed to the goal of the denuclearization of the peninsula, the maintenance of peace and stability on the peninsula, and the settlement of the issue through dialogue and consultations. China is opposed to any chaos or war on the peninsula. Enhancing military deployment on the peninsula will not help to achieve the goal of denuclearization or regional stability. The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in North-East Asia severely jeopardizes regional strategic balance and undermines the strategic security interests of all regional countries, including China. It will further escalate tensions on the peninsula, making the issue more complicated and intractable. China urges the relevant parties to halt the deployment process and dismantle related facilities immediately. China also urges countries to end the practice of resorting to domestic legislation to impose unilateral sanctions on individuals and entities in other countries. Achieving denuclearization and lasting peace and security on the peninsula is in the interests of all parties. We hope that the relevant parties can, along with China, play their due role and assume their share of responsibility to restore the peninsula issue to the right track of peaceful resolution through dialogue.

Once again, we voice our principled position vis-à-vis the inadmissibility of Pyongyang’s nuclear missile programme. It must be expeditiously and promptly put to an end. The ballistic missile launches of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea constitute a major threat to sea and air transit in the region and jeopardize the lives of ordinary civilians, in this instance the citizens of Japan. We call for full compliance with the Security Council’s resolutions. Pyongyang must end the banned programmes, return to the non-proliferation regime of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and join the Chemical Weapons Convention. At the same time, Security Council members must seek a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the issues plaguing the Korean peninsula. The Council must seek to reduce tensions in the region. There is no other way. We oppose the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile launches, but as we have repeatedly noted, it is impossible to address the issues plaguing the peninsula through sanctions and pressure alone. This path will not enable us to achieve the result we seek insofar as it proposes no option for engaging the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in constructive negotiations. There can be no military solution to the issues plaguing the Korean peninsula. We believe that all further Security Council resolutions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea must explicitly underscore that fact. We must also preclude additional unilateral sanctions on top of those imposed by the Council itself. If the situation on the Korean peninsula is to be normalized, there is a need for an approach that includes both an end to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile tests and an abandonment of military infrastructure build-up, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The exercises being conducted must be scaled down. There is an urgent need to create an atmosphere of trust among the States of the region and, in principle, to build an architecture of security in North-East Asia. The road map for settling the myriad issues plaguing the Korean peninsula can be constituted by the joint Russian and Chinese ideas advanced in various formats, including the joint Russo- Chinese statement of 4 July. Once again, we categorically reject military solutions to settlement of the issues plaguing the Korean peninsula. Political tools must be leveraged. We welcome the fact this approach has been enrhsined in presidential statement S/PRST/2017/16, which has just been adopted.