Opening Remarks
by
H.E. Yun Byung-se
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Munich, February 18, 2017

 
Thank you, Dr. Chipman for your kind introduction.

Today’s topic “Pacific No More: Security in East Asia and the Korean Peninsula” couldn’t be more timely and pertinent. In fact, waters in the Pacific are more turbulent than ever since the end of the Cold War. East Asia is undergoing a kind of tectonic shift with multiple daunting challenges erupting simultaneously such as:
- Longstanding issues like territorial and historical conflicts;
- Emerging issues like maritime, cyber and space security;
- Fast growing regional tensions among big powers;
- On top of that, there is the North Korean nuclear conundrum.

It may look like a Pandora’s Box opening and there seems to be a return of geopolitics and geoeconomics as well.

So, we are entering an era of transformation. How we navigate through our part of the world will decide whether we will sink in turbulent waters or ride the waves and reach the shores of Pacific era.

From my standpoint, the North Korean nuclear issue is the most imminent and gravest challenge.

Let me elaborate why.
- Last year alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile launches of all sorts - this means one launch every two weeks.
- North Korea is nearing the final stage of nuclear weaponization. In our analysis, the tipping point may be only a couple of years away. It’s a ticking time bomb.
- Its missile capability is posing a direct threat to the world, including continental U.S. The IRBM launch two weeks ago is surely a prelude to nuclear capable ICBM.
- And North Korea’s trigger-happy young leader has publicized his intention to actually use these weapons.

So, what does this mean? We are racing against time. If we do not reverse this process now, then this will become a game changer for all of us. It would be like living under Pyongyang’s nuclear sword of Damocles precariously dangling over our heads. No one is safe from it.

Yesterday in Bonn, G20 Foreign Ministers had in-depth discussions on how to preserve and strengthen rules-based international order.

And here, North Korea is a rule breaker par excellence. As I mentioned, it violated the UN Security Council resolutions at least 26 times in a single year. There is no parallel in the UN history.

When North Korea was admitted to the UN, it pledged to abide by the UN Charter as a peace-loving state. But its track record clearly shows that it is nothing but a serial offender.

Now, it is time to act. We need to get serious. Fortunately, we were able to forge the strongest-ever international unity and solidarity against North Korea last year. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted the toughest-ever and the most comprehensive-ever resolutions 2270 and 2321 with China and Russia onboard.

This time, there are many evidences that our sanctions measures are working and biting. The annual cap on key mineral exports is expected to reduce hard currency income by at least 800 million dollars. There are other pressure points such as financial sanctions, transportation, overseas North Korean workers and diplomatic isolation. Even Pyongyang is referring to the Leningrad blockade and the Cuban quarantine to describe the severity of the measures in place.

However, even when we have established an unprecedented framework of the entire international community versus North Korea, there are some who still want to rush back to dialogue with Pyongyang. Let me drop words of caution here.

Over the past twenty something years since the first North Korean nuclear crisis, we have left no stone unturned. Negotiations with North Korea have led us nowhere but back to square one like Sisyphus in Greek mythology.
- The Agreed Framework of 1994;
- The September 19 Joint Statement of 2005;
- and Leap Day deal of 2012 are salient cases in point.

For all these reasons, dialogue for dialogue’s sake with North Korea is simply “buying the same horse again.”

At this stage, let me register that we are open to dialogue in principle. But our goal is not compromising on half-measure or semblance of denuclearization. Our objective is the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of North Korean nuclear weapons programme.

The ongoing international pressure for denuclarization of North Korea may be a necessary condition. But it is not sufficient.

Given the uniquely unique North Korean regime, our approach should not be confined to only denuclarization efforts. It should be more holistic, encompassing several elements such as human rights and information flow.

As was discussed in Bonn, durable peace can be achieved only human rights and development go hand in hand. Signs of human rights violation are often symptomatic of looming conflicts.

During the past few years, we have witnessed a snowballing of awareness about North Korea’s widespread, systematic and grave human rights abuses especially in the wake of the release of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report in 2014. Some 140 high-level close associates of Kim’s family were executed since the current leader came to power. It is the most impoverished society where freedom and human dignity of its people are completely neglected.

All these factors have prompted increasing number of defectors which now reached a record high of 30,000 including the elite group.

In the age of greater accountability, the international community must put North Korea on notice that there will be no impunity for its wrong doings.

What we need to do now is to induce, or if necessary, force a wind of change within North Korea.

Distinguished participants,

If we achieve progress on our efforts towards denuclearization and on bringing a wind of change in North Korea, it will lead us to durable peace and ultimately reunification.

Our vision of a unified Korea is to serve as growth booster, peace promoter and guardian of universal values. This great dream should start with the realization of denuclearization on the peninsula.

If we don’t do it right and if we don’t do it now, nuclear tragedy can engulf not just East Asia but the international community as a whole.

But if we do right, we can overcome this biggest challenge and turn it into greater opportunity. It will serve greater common good not only for the Korean people but also for the region and beyond. We count on your strong support in our journey. Thank you. /END/