With the converging Ramadan, Easter and Passover holidays now beginning, Israelis and Palestinians must urgently crystalize agreements reached at several recent diplomatic meetings – the first of their kind in nearly a decade – the senior UN official for Middle East peace told the Security Council on Wednesday, while warning of escalating violence and inflammatory rhetoric on both sides.
The UN political affairs chief has underlined the critical need to ensure funding for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), warning that a shortfall could threaten plans to transfer security to the national forces by the end of next year.
A specialized force must be deployed to urgently help Haitian authorities tackle a tsunami of gang violence, as rapes, sniper killings, and kidnappings become daily threats, the spokesperson for the UN rights chief said on Tuesday.
“Across identities and differences… over countries and continents… it is not hard to choose peace.” These lines are from a new poem created to mark the 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping operations.
REMARKS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
NON-PROLIFERATION/DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR
EUROPE, CENTRAL ASIA AND THE AMERICAS FOR
DEPARTMENTS FOR POLITICAL AND PEACEBUILDING AFFAIRS
AND PEACE OPERATIONS MIROSLAV JENČA
New York, 20 March 2023
Mr. President,
According to its official news agency, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted what it described as an intercontinental ballistic missile launching drill on 16 March. The DPRK announced that the ballistic missile – which it designated as Hwasong-17 - flew a distance of 1,000 km and to an altitude of 6,045 km.
The DPRK also launched a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday (local time). The DPRK characterised this launch as being part of a quote “drill simulating a nuclear counterattack” end quote. This was the fourth event in eleven days in which the DPRK carried out launches using ballistic missile technology. The DPRK has conducted a total of 14 launches of such systems in 2023.
The DPRK greatly increased its missile launch activities in 2022, including approximately 70 launches using ballistic missile technology. The DPRK characterised these launches as involving systems with nuclear weapon roles, including so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons. Most of the systems it tested are capable of striking countries in the immediate region. The systems it tested on 16 March and 18 February, as well as on two occasions last year, are capable of reaching most points on the Earth.
The DPRK again did not issue airspace or maritime safety notifications. Unannounced launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic.
Mr. President,
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the launch of yet another ballistic missile of intercontinental range by the DPRK, as well as its other launches using ballistic missile technology.
The Secretary-General reiterates his calls on the DPRK to immediately desist from taking any further destabilising actions, to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions, and to resume dialogue leading to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. President,
The DPRK is actively pursuing its nuclear weapons programme. In September 2022, the DPRK approved a new law which set out conditions in which it could use nuclear weapons, including pre-emptively in certain circumstances. This nuclear doctrine was reiterated in the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Rodong Sinmun) on 17 March.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on 6 March that the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site quote “remains prepared to support a nuclear test” end quote. The IAEA has continued to observe activity at the site. It has also observed construction activities at the Yongbyon nuclear facilities as well as indications that the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor was operating.
A seventh nuclear test would be a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions and undermine the international norm against nuclear testing. The Secretary-General remains firmly committed to achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mr. President,
As per our earlier briefings to this Council, the DPRK continues to implement its five-year military plan unveiled during the 8th Party Congress in January 2021. That plan provided for development of new solid propellant intercontinental-range ballistic missiles; multiple warheads; better warheads; tactical nuclear weapons; a military reconnaissance satellite; new unmanned aerial systems; a 15,000 km-range intercontinental ballistic missile; and a “hypersonic gliding flight warhead”.
Mr. President,
The DPRK has clearly stated its intention to continue pursuing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions. The situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to head in the wrong direction. Tensions continue to increase, with no off-ramps in sight.
The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned over the divisions that have prevented the international community from acting on this matter, as well as on other threats to peace and security around the world.
The Korean Peninsula must be an area for cooperation. Today’s meeting provides an opportunity to discuss practical measures for achieving a peaceful, comprehensive, diplomatic, and political solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. President,
As previously stated, as the Council considers its options, there are several practical measures that could reduce tensions.
First, the DPRK needs to take immediate steps to resume dialogue leading to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This should include the DPRK refraining from carrying out further launches using ballistic missile technology or nuclear tests.
Second, communication channels must be enhanced, particularly military to military. Reducing confrontational rhetoric will help to lower political tensions and create space to explore diplomatic avenues.
Mr. President,
Separately, I wish to highlight once more our concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the DPRK. The United Nations is ready to assist the DPRK in addressing medical and other basic needs of vulnerable populations. We reiterate our call on the DPRK to allow the unimpeded entry of international staff, including the Resident Coordinator, and of humanitarian supplies, to enable a timely and effective response.
Mr. President,
Let me close by reiterating that the unity of the Security Council on the DPRK is essential to ease tensions and overcome the diplomatic impasse. The primary responsibility for international peace and security rests with this Council. The Secretariat is your partner in this effort.
Thank you, Mr. President.
A Japanese initiative to colourize photos of Hiroshima survivors, taken before the war, has been hailed by the UN as a way to breathe new life into conversations about peace, and a world without nuclear weapons.
Humanitarians have strongly condemned the latest deadly assault on aid workers in South Sudan, urging the Government to step up security and bring those responsible to justice.
Raising alarms that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is heading in the “wrong direction”, a senior UN official appealed to the UN Security Council for unity on Monday, following a spate of missile launches in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen announced on Monday the planned release of 887 conflict-related detainees from all sides along with other gains after concluding 10 days of negotiations to address the devastating eight-year-old conflict.
The parties to a watershed political agreement in Sudan – signed in December 2022 – have launched a fresh round of consultations on key challenges facing the country, the senior UN official in Khartoum told the Security Council on Monday, citing several important breakthroughs that have already emerged from that process.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-brokered deal aimed at supplying markets with food and fertilizer amid global shortages and rising prices, exacerbated by the Ukraine war, was extended on Saturday, the day it was due to expire.
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The war in Ukraine has had very significant implications for global food insecurity, the top UN humanitarian official told the Security Council on Friday, underscoring the critical need to extend landmark agreements to export grain and fertilizer from the region.
Children are increasingly caught up in armed conflict in the climate-affected, food insecure central Sahel region, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
Violence against civilians in South Sudan rose by two per cent during 2022, according to the latest annual report on Violence Affecting Civilians from the UN peacekeeping mission there, UNMISS.
The UN chief condemned on Friday the latest ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), calling on Pyongyang to resume dialogue leading towards sustainable peace and a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.
NEW YORK - UN Security Council today unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 2678 (2023) extending the...
Violence resulting from the brutal military coup is continuing inside Myanmar on an “alarming scale” the UN Special Envoy told a meeting of the General Assembly on Thursday.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a presidential statement calling on the international community to support ongoing efforts to forge a lasting peace in Libya.
The world’s new security sector reform plan can achieve even further progress by developing the first-ever global study on women in defence, trimming reporting periods, and galvanizing Member States’ support, the UN’s top Rule of Law and Security Institutions official said on Thursday.
Russian forces in Ukraine faced fresh accusations of war crimes on Thursday as UN-appointed independent human rights investigators released the latest findings of their ongoing probe.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced, and dozens killed, following a string of armed group attacks in North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN reported on Wednesday.
With the holy month of Ramadan fast approaching, warring parties in Yemen must build on relative calm across the country and the April 2022 truce – which is largely holding, despite its official lapse in October – to negotiate a nationwide ceasefire and address the dire humanitarian needs there, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Three senior UN officials underscored the need for a political solution to end the war in Syria, in statements marking the 12th anniversary of the conflict on Wednesday.
New York, 15 March 2023
On this International Day to Combat Islamophobia, we focus attention – and call for action – to stamp out the poison of anti-Muslim hatred.
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Some countries and private companies are using “counter-terrorism and security rhetoric” to justify a major increase in the deployment and use of cutting-edge surveillance technology, with no regulation, and at an “enormous cost” to human rights, said an independent UN expert on Tuesday.
The UN chief on Monday confirmed the UN would “do everything possible to preserve the integrity” of the Black Sea Grain Initiative – the deal agreed between Ukraine and Russia last July that is due to expire in just a few days.
Top rights investigators appointed by the Human Rights Council on Monday delivered a highly critical assessment of the role of the Syrian Government and the international community including the UN, in getting help to communities in the northwest, hit by last month’s deadly earthquake emergency.
