Public Speech on the North Korean Nuclear Issue
By Ambassador Joonkook Hwang
Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs

(2015 IFANS Conference on Global Affairs, October 23rd)

[Greetings]

Former Minister Han Seung-Joo,
KNDA Chancellor Yoon Deuk-Min,
Professor Mearsheimer,
Professor Wang Jisi,
Professor Tanaka,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I extend my congratulations on the opening of the international conference under the theme of "Opening the Next Chapter: Where Korean Diplomacy Stands on the 70th Anniversary of Liberation." It is a great pleasure to be in the presence of distinguished experts from home and abroad.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Korea, the 70th year of our division into two Koreas, and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement, which is the most significant outcome of the Six-Party Talks. Dealing with North Korea and the nuclear issue, I have more thoughts and worries and feel heavier responsibility this year than any other year.

In his congratulatory remarks this morning, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se presented the challenges facing Korean diplomacy and the way forward. Allow me to take this opportunity, graced by distinguished scholars and guests, to briefly discuss the current situation regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, our diplomatic endeavors to overcome this challenge, and the path that North Korea should choose.

[Changes in the Situation]

I saw a satirical cartoon a few years ago, in a well-known magazine in the West, describing North Korea's Weapons of Mass Destruction as “Weapons of Mass Distraction.”

The cartoon meant that Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs were not about obtaining nuclear weapons capability, but about gaining only bargaining power. However, having seen the steps North Korea has taken until now, no one believes any more that it is only a bargaining chip.

Seven years have passed since the Six-Party Talks came to a deadlock. The developments over the years since the last meeting of the Six-Party Talks can be summarized into five points:

First, up to the Kim Jong-il regime, North Korea showed ambiguity regarding nuclear development. However, under Kim Jong-un’s rule, North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear-weapon state in its Constitution and announced the simultaneous pursuit of nuclear weapons and economic development as its party’s official policy. This has left less space for China and Russia to take North Korea’s side. North Korea is directly challenging the Non-Proliferation Treaty and, since the conclusion of the Iranian nuclear negotiations, only North Korea now remains to be sanctioned by the UN Security Council for nuclear development.

Second, since the 2010 public disclosure of the uranium enrichment facilities in Yongbyon, the focus of the North Korean nuclear issue has shifted from plutonium reprocessing to uranium enrichment. Uranium enrichment enables North Korea to “continuously” accumulate nuclear materials, so we can say that the threat of the advancement of its nuclear capabilities has been amplified.

Third, while Pyongyang has been rejecting all the talks on denuclearization and continuously developing nuclear weapons, the other parties to the Six-Party Talks have had more frequent bilateral or trilateral interactions among themselves. Now the five parties share more common ground. The fact that the North Korean nuclear issue was categorized in the recent US-China Summit as an agenda for cooperation rather than an agenda of conflict between the two countries has implications in terms of coordination between the five parties.

Fourth, China's attitude toward North Korea has started to change. China is trying to demonstrate more responsibility by refusing to tolerate North Korea’s nuclear development and taking a more adamant stance against North Korean provocations as it emerges as a political and economic power. The 3rd nuclear test by Pyongyang shortly after the inauguration of President Xi Jinping only strengthened the principled position of China. In fact, to a considerable extent, this has been the cause behind the deterioration of the bilateral relations between China and North Korea including the suspension of exchanges of high ranking officials for the past 2 years. Another factor for a change in their relations is that the critical opinions of Chinese people on North Korea’s behavior, i.e. nuclear provocations and third-generation succession, are being expressed rather freely with a generational change and growth of the online media. We will have to wait and see how things unfold between North Korea and China after Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan’s visit to North Korea to attend the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Worker’s Party last month.

Fifth, there have also been changes in the ROK and US approach to the North Korean nuclear issue. In the past, thinking "something is better than nothing," the ROK and the US had a tendency to conclude negotiations, half trusting the promises of Pyongyang. However, since Pyongyang even broke the Leap Day Deal in 2012, the US position has become clearer. There is a strong sentiment among US opinion leaders including Congress, regardless of Republicans and Democrats, think-tanks, and the media that they should not let North Korea fool them again.

[ROK in the Driver’s Seat]

Amid such changing internal and external environment surrounding the North Korean nuclear problem, the ROK has made many efforts for consultations with the five parties, based on the "Korean Formula," concerning the resumption of meaningful Six-Party Talks. Through these efforts, the five parties have managed to reach a certain level of common understanding. On this basis we have been pursuing exploratory talks, which do not have any preconditions, with North Korea since March this year.

In the most recent ROK-US Summit, a joint statement on North Korea was proposed by the ROK, and the two leaders adopted the stand-alone statement, which includes the elements important to us.

Indeed, the ROK is in the driver’s seat of the North Korean nuclear diplomacy. As the driver at the wheel, we must be responsible, have a good sense of direction, and stay alert at all times.

While the recent ROK-US joint statement includes a number of important messages to North Korea, it also contains messages for us. By stating to “address the North Korean nuclear problem with utmost urgency and determination," not only the US, but also we are renewing our resolve. Furthermore, by stating that “North Korea’s continuing development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs is an ongoing violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” not only are we raising international awareness about the issue, we are also trying to remind ourselves that not even a single day can be wasted because the current status-quo is worsening the situation every day.

Based on the close ROK-US coordination, we will work with other stakeholders, including cooperating strategically with China, to continue to strengthen efforts to pressure North Korea and to induce it to return to denuclearization talks.

[Urging North Korea to Change]

North Korea must now accept that without a breakthrough in the current nuclear deadlock, there will be no breakaway from international isolation and economic difficulties.

North Korea has to rethink the root of the nuclear issue. Pyongyang is repeatedly asserting that it is developing nuclear weapons due to the hostile policy of the US. The alleged "US hostile policy toward North Korea," however, does not exist. Pyongyang's allegation of the US hostile policy towards North Korea is based on the claim that the Korean War began with invasion from the south. Recently North Korea has even circulated this claim, which nobody recognizes, in the UN Security Council as an official document. The US, on numerous occasions, has clearly stated, both through written and verbal statements, that it has no hostile policy toward North Korea nor has any intention to attack or invade it, and has reaffirmed this in the October ROK-US Summit Joint Statement on North Korea. North Korea's assertion that it will not give up its nuclear program until the non-existent US hostile policy is withdrawn is nothing but a stubborn insistence that it will continue its nuclear development.

Some cite the examples of Iraq and Libya to argue that Pyongyang's fear of regime collapse is the reason behind its nuclear development. However, the regimes in Iraq and Libya fell, not because they did not have nuclear weapons, but because they blatantly and continuously violated the obligations imposed by the international community, i.e. UN Security Council resolutions, or because they failed to win the support of their own peoples. Looking at the Soviet Union, which collapsed in spite of having the largest number of nuclear weapons in the world, we can see that nuclear weapons are not an “all-powerful treasured sword.”

Recently North Korea has brought up again its argument for concluding a peace treaty with the US. However, the answer is already in the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks to which North Korea is a participant. The 2005 Joint Statement, while making it clear that the goal of the Six-Party Talks is denuclearization, stipulates that “the directly related parties will negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate forum.” Pyongyang must immediately start dialogue and negotiations focused on denuclearization in accordance to the 2005 Joint Statement and the UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea disparages the UN Security Council resolutions as US diktat and asserts that they are dismissible. However, that is not true. North Korea must not forget that China and Russia, permanent members of the UN Security Council, were key players who drafted and approved resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, which ban North Korea’s nuclear programs. Permanent membership in the UN Security Council is the central pillar of diplomacy for both China and Russia, through which they play an important role in the world politics. Although interests between countries are subject to change in a dynamic world order where mutual interdependence is deepening, the significance of the UN Security Council does not change easily to China and Russia.

North Korea must not overlook this. The UN Security Council resolutions have emphasized, not once but multiple times, the principle of no tolerance to North Korean nuclear development. The reality is that North Korea has to take seriously the position of not only the US, the ROK and Japan, but also China and Russia, that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear-weapon state.

The US, Japan, China and Russia are big powers, not only in Northeast Asia, but also globally. Turning its back on the united demand of the five parties and going in the opposite direction is like closing its future in Northeast Asia and in the world. Without a resolution of the nuclear problem, North Korea cannot have a peaceful and stable external environment for economic development and the improvement of the livelihood of its people.

If North Korea continues to take the path of isolation and advance its nuclear capabilities as it is doing now, the way back will be too far. It has already gone far in the wrong direction. It is time to stop and turn back.

The resolution of the crisis situation triggered by North Korea’s landmine provocation through the August 25 Agreement reminds us of the importance of dialogue as a means of solving problems. I am glad that the reunion of separated families, the first measure of implementation under the August 25 Agreement, is well underway. We hope that the smooth implementation of the Agreement will improve the inter-Korean relations and that the current momentum will lead to a virtuous circle between inter-Korean relations and denuclearization.

North Korea must take a serious attitude toward denuclearization, and the South and North must meet directly and discuss the nuclear issue. We are willing to meet with responsible North Korean officials in charge of nuclear affairs at any time and place. Through direct dialogue, seemingly unbridgeable differences can be overcome and points of agreement can be reached one by one. Economic and energy assistance, normalization of the US-North Korea relations, establishment of a peace regime etc., which are stipulated in the 2005 Joint Statement, cannot be fulfilled if the North attempts to circumvent the ROK.

Not carrying out further nuclear tests or long-range missile launches alone will not improve the situation. Taking a more realistic and compromising attitude to the nuclear issue will be the first step in seeking a breakthrough. The first measure North Korea must now take is to stop the visible nuclear activities in Yongbyon.

We urge North Korea to have a more accurate understanding of the reality of the internal and external environment and to start sincere dialogue and negotiations with the ROK and other participants of the Six-Party Talks.

Thank you. END.