UN adopts three resolutions against North
The First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted three resolutions that denounce North Korea’s nuclear test, a U.S.-based media report said Saturday.Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom of Iraq, who leads the UN committee that discusses all topics related to disarmament and international security, announced on Thursday that draft resolution L35, “United action with renewed determination toward the total elimination of nuclear weapons,” was adopted after it was endorsed by 144 countries, with four objections and 27 abstentions, according to Voice of America (VOA).
The anti-nuclear resolution from Japan, which is also co-sponsored by the United States and Britain, calls for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but VOA said it virtually targets North Korea, which conducted its sixth nuclear test last month.
China, Russia, North Korea and Syria were the four nations that voted against the resolution.
The First Committee also passed resolutions titled L19 and L42 that also target North Korea, according to VOA. The L19 resolution calls for North Korea to follow promises made in the 2005 six-party talks, and urges the communist state to give up all nuclear weapons and programs. The L42 resolution stresses that the UN Security Council-proposed resolutions should be properly carried out and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should be done in a peaceful way. South Korea abstained from the voting of the L35 and L19 resolutions, but endorsed the L42 resolution, a government official said on the condition of anonymity.
“[The L35] is about the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but it also emphasizes damage of a certain country [Japan], so we decided there is a problem,” the official said, adding that its decision also considers the treatment of South Koreans who were exposed to radiation.
The official said the government decided not to vote on the L19 resolution following the country’s security concerns as it calls for the immediate disuse of nuclear weapons, which apparently doesn’t go along with the United States’ assurance of the American nuclear umbrella on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea, however, favored the L42 resolution, the official said.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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