1. The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York from April 27 through May 22. In the meeting, the participants will review the progress in the implementation of the NPT over the past five years since its last round in 2010 and discuss ways to bolster the NPT regime.

* The NPT Review Conference is held in New York every five years to review the progress in the implementation of the NPT and hold discussions focused on the three pillars of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

- The meeting in 2010 is seen to have been successful in that the participating countries reached agreement on a 64-point Action Plan for bolstering the NPT regime.

2. The forthcoming NPT Review Conference is expected to focus on the progress in the implementation of the Action Plan agreed upon at the 2010 round as well as the progress in nuclear disarmament in nuclear weapons states under the NPT and the proposed establishment of a weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-free zone in the Middle East.

3. At the NPT Review Conference, the government of the Republic of Korea will play a role in the participating countries engaging in balanced discussions on the aforementioned three pillars, -- nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy -- reviewing the progress in the implementation of the Action Plan agreed upon at the 2010 meeting, agreeing on a future plan and thereby further strengthening the NPT regime.

◦ Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Shin Dong-ik of the Foreign Ministry will attend the meeting in his capacity as head delegate of the ROK government and deliver a keynote speech. He will also meet bilaterally with delegates from other countries to discuss ways to work together with them in reinforcing the nuclear non-proliferation regime and promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

4. In addition, the Deputy Minister will seek to win closer cooperation from the parties to the NPT in a bid for North Korea -- which is violating obligations under the safeguards agreement of the NPT and that with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and thereby posing a serious threat to the international non-proliferation regime -- to achieve a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, and to return to the NPT as soon as possible.


* unofficial translation