1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, will host the 17th Republic of Korea-United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues at the Shilla Hotel in Jeju from December 5 to 6.

o The ROK-UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues was first held in the form of an international workshop in 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the ROK’s accession to the UN.

o Since 2002, it has developed into a representative annual meeting on disarmament and non-proliferation issues in the Asia-Pacific, which brings together disarmament and non-proliferation experts from various fields, including governments, international organizations, academia, and research institutes, at the end of every year to discuss key disarmament and non-proliferation issues for the year.

2. In the upcoming meeting, to be held under the theme “disarmament that saves humanity-toward a world free of nuclear threats,” participants will identify challenges facing the current nuclear non-proliferation regime, and discuss in depth nuclear disarmament issues, with a focus on the roles of international organizations and mechanisms, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

o Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu and UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu will represent the ROK government and the UN, respectively, in the meeting.

o The meeting will also bring together about 50 people, including delegates from the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, and other international organizations, as well as experts from the Brookings Institution and other disarmament and non-proliferation research institutes at home and abroad, members of the diplomatic corps in the ROK, and officials from relevant ROK government agencies.

3. The ROK government will explore ways to contribute constructively to the international community’s discussions on disarmament and non-proliferation by continuing to hold the ROK-UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues. The ROK government will also make efforts to strengthen its capacity for disarmament and non-proliferation diplomacy.

* unofficial translation