FIVE WAYS THE UK IS WORKING TO TACKLE NORTH KOREA
Over the Easter weekend, the world witnessed an increasingly familiar and troubling spectacle — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) parading its military hardware in front of well-rehearsed crowds, before later test-firing a ballistic missile.
On that occasion, the test failed. And thankfully, we have not yet seen a further test nuclear explosion — although this has been threatened by the regime.
But the UK, and the UN Security Council, rightly and unreservedly condemned this failed test as a clear violation of UN Sanctions and threat to international peace and stability.
DPRK nuclear activity defies international law, and its obligations under the UN Charter to abide by decisions of the Security Council. Their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the ballistic missiles that can deliver them, pose growing dangers both for countries in the region and across the world.
The aggressive rhetoric coming from Pyongyang — which often includes explicit threats of a nuclear attack on its neighbours — only underlines further the risks.
In the face of such threats, the UK stands shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies. We are in regular contact with the US, Republic of Korea and Japan, amongst others, showing our solidarity and working to tackle this threat. In November 2016 the UK deployed Royal Air Force Typhoons to the region, where we conducted joint exercises with South Korea and Japan.
We are committed to deepening defence engagement with all our key partners. And we continue to engage with China, through our Global Partnership, over their key role in influencing the DPRK.
As the British Ambassador to the United Nations, I see the diplomatic efforts of our partners to resolve this crisis firsthand, every day. The UK is supporting these efforts, globally, in five key areas.
1. Tough diplomacy and engagement.
The UK has bilateral relations with North Korea, and are among only a small group who maintain an Embassy in Pyongyang. This is a vital diplomatic tool, allowing us to give tough messages directly to the regime, and make clear that their actions are unacceptable to the international community.
2. Robust Security Council responses.
In 2016 we faced two nuclear tests by DPRK, and an unprecedented barrage of missile tests.
As a permanent member, we helped ensure the Council rose to that challenge, working with all Council members on two landmark resolutions that expanded and strengthened measures aimed at limiting DPRK access to funds and technology for its nuclear programme.
And we stand ready to take further significant measures in future, if DPRK further violates Council decisions.
3. Thorough implementation of UN sanctions, at home and abroad.
All of the new Security Council sanctions against DPRK agreed last year have swiftly entered into UK law, ensuring that services in Edinburgh or markets in London cannot be exploited by North Korea for proliferation.
We also work with European partners on sanctions implementation, and have supported workshops with states in Africa to examine their potential vulnerability to sanctions evasion by DPRK.
Whether it be shipping, banking, insurance, aviation, scientific research or the trade in precious metals — the DPRK are an arch-sanctions evaders, always seeking a weakness to exploit for their programme. All such sources of illicit funds can and must be stopped.
4. Shining a light on DPRK’s atrocious human rights.
We must not forget the extensive human rights violations that the regime inflicts upon its own people. The scale is staggering: between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners in gulags; millions of people malnourished in preventable circumstances; an entire population controlled in every aspect of their lives.
This would be horrific enough. But the fact the regime continues to pour money and manpower into its illegal weapons of mass destruction programmes, while its people starve, is the greatest tragedy.
The UK will continue to keep the international spotlight on these abuses, including at the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the General Assembly in New York.
5. Finding a solution.
The UK supports a peaceful resolution to tensions. But it is North Korea that must take the first step.
The efforts I have outlined contribute to pushing Pyongyang to take credible, verifiable steps away from its reckless path. This would allow a re-entering to meaningful political talks on denuclearization, and the better relations we all desire.
Dialogue, at some point, must form part of the solution. Whilst the UK is not a member of the existing Six Party Talks, we maintain close contact with all sides. Hopes for progress rest on international co-operation — especially between China and the US — and the verifiable disarmament of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Next week, on 28 April, I look forward to welcoming the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, who will join US Secretary of State Tillerson and his colleagues for a special Security Council session on these issues.
The UK will continue doing its part to help reach a lasting, peaceful solution.
