UNITED NATIONS, September 28 (Itar-Tass) — Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula is impossible as long as hostile relations between the DPRK and the United States persist, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Kil Yon said on Tuesday at the general political debate of the 66th session of UN General Assembly.
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea called at the United Nations on Tuesday for a full-fledged dialogue with the United States and warned that reunification of the Korean Peninsula could only come through a federal formula as absorption would lead to war, according to a UN press release.
“Under the present circumstances where the Korean Peninsula stands at the crossroad of either relaxation of tension or the vicious cycle of aggravation of tension, the US should boldly abandon the hostile policy against the DPRK and move towards full-fledged dialogue, proceeding from its long-term strategic vision,” Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Kil Yon told the General Assembly’s annual general debate. He blamed the US for the failure to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula citing the “hostile policy and nuclear war threat of the US against the DPRK. Such being the case, the US is the main party that is responsible for and capable of removing the root cause of the problem. The nuclear issue would have never been raised at all if the US refrained from deploying nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula and threatening the DPRK with nuclear arms.”
Mr. Pak said nuclear war exercises continued to be staged against the DPRK, but the country would still cooperate with all the parties concerned for the unconditional resumption of the Six-Party Talks, which involve China, DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and the US, and seek to resolve the crisis over the DPRK’s nuclear programme, according to the release. The Security Council imposed a series of sanctions on the DPRK for its nuclear testing, beginning in 2006.
Inter-Korean relations had been developing favourably since 2000 but unfortunately “have now been aggravated in their worst state with widespread atmosphere of war and confrontation against the fellow countrymen after the present South Korean authorities took office,” Mr. Pak said, accusing the ROK of abandoning the federal or confederal system of reunification in favour of unification through absorption. This “presupposes the collapse of the other party, and thus put the inter-Korean relations into a phase of touch-and-go confrontation and increased the danger of war with each passing day,” he stressed. “In view of the prevailing reality of the Korean Peninsula, the so-called ‘unification through absorption’ is the road to war whereas the federal formula leads to peace.”
Mr. Pak also called for enhancing the authority of the General Assembly by urgently putting in place a mechanism to make Security Council resolutions related to peace and security like those on sanctions and use of force subject to Assembly approval if they are to take effect. Only Council resolutions are legally binding while those of the Assembly are recommendations.
Pyongyang sees a way out of the impasse through replacing the armistice agreement signed at the end of the Korean War of 1950-53 with a peace treaty. A peace treaty is “the most effective confidence-building measure,” which, in the view of North Korea, will “remove the distrust which exists between the DPRK and the US,” which, in turn, would be “a driving force to ensure the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” the diplomat said.
The six-party talks were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003. Apparent gains following the fourth and fifth rounds were reversed by outside events. Five rounds of talks from 2003 to 2007 produced little net progress until the third phase of the fifth round of talks, when North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel aid and steps towards the normalization of relations with the United States and Japan. Responding angrily to the United Nations Security Council's Presidential Statement issued on April 13, 2009 that condemned the North Korean failed satellite launch, the DPRK declared on April 14, 2009 that it would pull out of Six Party Talks and that it would resume its nuclear enrichment program in order to boost its nuclear deterrent. North Korea has also expelled all nuclear inspectors from the country.
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, US President Barack Obama responded that “violations must 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 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.