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Disarmament Documentation

KEDO Statement on North Korea, November 14

I. Statement by KEDO Executive Board

Statement issued by the Executive Board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), New York, November 14; KEDO website, http://www.kedo.org.

The Executive Board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) met today in New York to discuss the implications of North Korea's acknowledgement that it is pursuing a program to produce highly-enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The Executive Board, consisting of the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the European Union, agreed on the following:

To condemn North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program, which is a clear and serious violation of its obligations under the Agreed Framework, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), its IAEA Safeguards Agreement, and the Joint South-North Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsular.
North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a shared challenge to all responsible states.
This program threatens regional and international security and undermines the international non-proliferation regime based on the NPT.
North Korea must promptly eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a visible and verifiable manner.
South-North Korea, Japan-North Korea, and EU-North Korea dialogues serve as important channels to resolve bilateral and international concerns and to call upon North Korea to visibly and quickly honor its commitment to give up its nuclear weapons program. North Korea's future relations and interaction with KEDO and the members of its Executive Board hinge on the complete and permanent elimination of its nuclear weapons program.
Heavy fuel deliveries will be suspended beginning with the December shipment. Future shipments will depend on North Korea's concrete and credible actions to dismantle completely its highly-enriched uranium program. In this light, other KEDO activities with North Korea will be reviewed.
The Executive Board will continue to consult on next steps with regard to future activities of KEDO.

II. Statement by President Bush

'Statement by the President', The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, November 15.

I welcome yesterday's strong statement by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization on the need for North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons program and its decision to suspend further shipment of fuel oil to North Korea beginning in December. We are working closely with our partners in KEDO and our friends around the world to address this shared challenge.

North Korea has acknowledged that it is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium. This program undermines regional and international security and the international nonproliferation regime. North Korea is also in direct violation of the North's commitments under the Agreed Framework, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, its International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards Agreement, and the Joint North-South Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's clear violation of its international commitments will not be ignored.

The United States hopes for a different future with North Korea. As I made clear during my visit to South Korea in February, the United States has no intention of invading North Korea. This remains the case today. The United States seeks friendship with the people of North Korea.

In June 2001, we offered to pursue a comprehensive dialogue with North Korea. We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed our long-standing concerns, the United States was prepared to take important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach.

North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a challenge to all responsible nations. The leaders of the Asia-Pacific region made clear in a unanimous statement in October that North Korea's potential to benefit from participation in the international community rests upon the prompt and visible dismantlement of this program. We are united in our desire for a peaceful resolution of this situation. We are also united in our resolve that the only option for addressing this situation is for North Korea to completely and visibly eliminate its nuclear weapons program.

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