1. At its 60th General Conference in Vienna on September 26-30, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted by consensus a resolution on North Korea, in which the organization condemned in the strongest terms the fifth nuclear conducted by North Korea on September 9; reaffirmed that North Korea will not be granted the status of a nuclear weapons state; and strongly urged the North to abandon all its nuclear weapons and relevant programs in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions and its denuclearization commitments under the September 19 Joint Statement.

° The resolution was co-sponsored by not only the Republic of Korea and its allies, including the US and Canada, that led the work on the resolution, but also such first-time co-sponsors as Kenya, Nigeria and Qatar, bringing the number of co-sponsors to 70 in 2016, up from the 63 in 2015.

2. In the resolution, the IAEA points out the fact that North Korea has resumed in 2016 reprocessing activities, and strongly condemns continued nuclear-related activities by the North, including the operation of the 5 MW€ reactor in Yongbyon as well as the expansion and operation of uranium enrichment facilities. The gist of the resolution in 2016, which contains more strongly-worded details than the one adopted in 2015, is as follows:

° The IAEA condemns North Korea’s nuclear in the strongest terms – in stronger terms than “condemned” in the resolution adopted in 2015.

° The IAEA clarifies that North Korea is continuing reprocessing and other nuclear-related activities, and strongly deplores it.

° The IAEA takes note of its Director-General’s indication in his report that there are signs of resumed operations of reprocessing facilities in North Korea; and expresses deep concern over the fact that North Korea has reprocessed spent nuclear fuel on its own and is producing nuclear-weapons-grade enriched uranium.

° The IAEA, calling the “radiochemical laboratory” mentioned in its Director-General’s report a “reprocessing facility,” deeply deplores continuous nuclear activities by North Korea, including resuming the operations of the reprocessing facility.

° The IAEA strongly calls upon North Korea to take concrete steps to fulfill its commitments under the September 19 Joint Statement.

° The IAEA expresses deep concern over North Korea’s announcements that it conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb on January 6, 2016 and a test of a standardized nuclear warhead on September 9.

3. The IAEA, which has adopted resolutions on North Korea since 1993, adopted another by consensus among all of its member states amid a grave situation triggered by North Korea’s two nuclear tests in 2016 alone. By adopting this resolution, the IAEA has sent a message of strong, clear opposition to North Korea’s nuclear test and other illicit nuclear activities and thereby reaffirmed the international community’s strong, united resolve not to tolerate the North’s nuclear program and to achieve the denuclearization of the North.

4. On September 27, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Hong-kyun, who led the ROK delegation to the 60th IAEA General Conference, delivered a keynote speech, in which he called on the member states of the IAEA to adopt a strong resolution on North Korea and thereby express a strong, united resolve to address the North Korean nuclear issue.

° In particular, the Special Representative brought renewed attention to the fact that at the recent UN General Assembly session, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se had asked the UN to seriously reconsider the qualification of North Korea as its member, as the North is repeatedly and unprecedentedly in the UN history violating obligations under the UN Charter, including by defying UN decisions. Such a stern position of the ROK government is seen to have helped draw the agreement on the strongly-worded resolution.

5. At the recent UN General Assembly session, 42 countries sent a warning message to North Korea in their keynote speeches. Strong, stern messages were also sent to North Korea on the occasions of the ROK-US-Japan foreign ministerial meeting, the “Friends of the CTBT” Foreign Ministers' Meeting attended by 43 countries, and the five-member MIKTA foreign ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of the session. At its 60th General Conference that brought together its 169 member states, the IAEA, the international organization overseeing matters regarding nuclear technology and verification, adopted its toughest resolution on North Korea. This is seen to have helped strengthen the “international community vs. North Korea” structure in response to North Korea’s repeated provocations and efforts to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities.


* unofficial translation