Disarmament Documentation

US Permanent Representative Rice on UN Presidential Statement on North Korea, 11 April 2009

Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, United States Permanent Representative, on the situation in DPRK, at the Security Council stakeout, 11 April 2009.

Ambassador Rice: We are pleased to have just shared with the full membership of the Security Council a proposed draft Presidential Statement, which we think is very strong and sends a clear message to the DPRK that their violation of international law will not be treated with impunity, and indeed will have consequences. Council members have worked hard in a collaborative and cooperative spirit. We have put down for consideration a draft that has achieved the support of the P5 plus Japan and we hope very much that our colleagues on the Security Council will see fit to join this consensus and send promptly a strong and unified message to the DPRK.

The draft that has been shared clearly and unequivocally condemns the launch of April 5th. It makes it plain that this launch contravenes Security Council Resolution 1718. It demands that the DPRK not conduct any further launch. And it calls upon the DPRK as well as all member states to fully implement their obligations under 1718. And it decides that there will be additional strengthening of the measures contained in 1718 through the designation of entities and additional goods. The entities once designated would be subject to an asset freeze and the goods will be prohibited to be transferred to or from the DPRK. This is a strong and legally binding outcome of the Security Council, which meets all of the objectives that we have. We are pleased that the process which has produced this document thus far has been a constructive and collaborative one, and we look very much forward to swift action by the Council. Thank you.

Reporter: Ambassador, what makes you think the North Koreans are going to come around and are not going to launch missiles or rockets anymore? What indications do you have?

Ambassador Rice: What the Council can do, and we hope will do, through the adoption of this statement is to send a very clear message to North Korea that what they have done under the guise of a satellite launch is in fact a violation of their obligations and indeed that there are consequences for such actions. The statement also urges all to come back to the Six Party talks and to make progress towards the objectives of the Six Party Talks, which of course the principal objective is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And all members that have coordinated thus far on this draft believe this text strikes the appropriate balance between strong statement, clear condemnation and consequences, and the expectation that all will benefit from the continuation of the Six Party Talks.

Reporter: Ambassador, one aspect of 1718 that was never really enforced was the inspection regime where anyone was allowed to inspect cargo coming to and from North Korea (inaudible). How can enforcement be different on this one, now that you are trying to strengthen some of these provisions?

Ambassador Rice: This statement clearly asks and expects that all members will fully comply with their obligations under 1718, and by activating the DPRK Sanctions Committee, by agreeing, if the Council so decides, to add new entities subject to asset freeze, and indeed the goods subject to prohibition of transfer, we will be re-enforcing and substantially strengthening this regime.

Reporter: Was it a missile or a satellite?

Ambassador Rice: The draft text characterizes this as a launch, and we have all agreed on this language, subject to the full agreement of the entire Security Council, and we think it captures any launch.

Thank you.

Source: US Mission to the United Nations, www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov.

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