NPT meeting in New York discusses North Korea

Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Ham Sang-wook speaks at the 10th NPT review conference at the UN in New York on Monday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

North Korea is the only country in the world that abused the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop nuclear weapons, Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Ham Sang-wook said at a UN nonproliferation conference in New York on Monday.

“How we address the nuclear challenges by the DPRK at the NPT will not only serve as a message to the DPRK but will be a litmus test on the viability of the NPT regime itself,” said Ham, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, at the 10th NPT review conference at the UN.

North Korea was a member of the NPT from 1985 to 2003. The country held its first nuclear test in 2006, followed by five more through September 2017.

It has ramped up military provocations this year, launching 31 ballistic missiles including an intercontinental ballistic missile in May, and is suspected to be getting ready for its seventh nuclear test.

“We urge the DPRK to cease all kinds of provocations, comply with the UN Security Council resolutions, return to fully comply with the NPT, at an early date, and denuclearize in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner,” Ham said. “At the same time, we take this opportunity to make it clear that the door to dialogue remains open.”

The use of the phrase “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization,” abbreviated as CVID, was largely avoided during the administration of Moon Jae-in, which called for the North to incrementally dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal and fissile material processing facilities.

Ham was one of around 130 speakers at the forum, which is held every five years for around four weeks to review the NPT members’ adherence to the treaty.

The conference may result in a joint statement by the members outlining their objectives for the next five years.

The last conference, held in 2015, didn’t produce such a document due to disagreements over the establishment of a zone in the Middle East that would be free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The conference before that, in 2010, adopted a joint statement that called on North Korea to commit to a “complete and verifiable abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs” and urged the country to return to the NPT and adhere to its IAEA safeguards agreement.

The members of the conference are expected to continue the discussions on the WMD-free zone in Middle East and North Korea, as well as Iran's nuclear program, the Ukraine crisis and Russian nuclear threats, and other issues such as the Australia-U.S.-Britain agreement on nuclear submarines.

“Now, some have asked about our new partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia, known as AUKUS,” said Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, addressing the conference on Monday. “Through this partnership, Australia will acquire submarines.

“I want to emphasize that these submarines will be nuclear powered, not nuclear armed,” he said. “These will adhere to the highest safety and nonproliferation standards under the NPT. We’re working very closely with the IAEA to make sure that that’s the case.”

Blinken directly criticized Russia for violating its assurances to Ukraine years ago when it gave up its nuclear weapons.

“[Russia’s] actions are also contrary to the assurances that it provided to Ukraine in 1994 in the so-called Budapest Memorandum, assurances of Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence that were vital to giving Ukraine the confidence to give up the nuclear weapons it inherited when the Soviet Union dissolved and that were left on its territory,” he said.

On Monday in New York, the Korean delegation hosted a forum on the sidelines of the conference on the topic of the North Korean nuclear programs.

“We’re working on issuing a statement with France on North Korean nuclear weapons,” said a Foreign Ministry official in speaking with the press in Seoul on Tuesday.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]