Item 4 (b): Report by the Director General on the application of safeguards in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Mr. Chairman,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the EFTA country Iceland, members of the European Economic Area, as well as The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, associate themselves with this statement.
Mr. Chairman,
2. The European Union continues to have very serious non-proliferation concerns with regards to the DPRK and attaches great importance to the common goal of the Six Parties to achieve the early denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. The European Union underlines the importance of swift and full implementation of the commitments contained in the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005, leading to the full disablement and dismantlement of the nuclear weapons programme of the DPRK in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. The European Union calls on the DPRK to fully comply with all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1695, 1718 and with its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, including the implementation of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement in full cooperation with the IAEA. As the IAEA’s work in the DPRK moves forward, the IAEA’s verification mandate will have to be further strengthened, through the Additional Protocol. The EU also recalls the DPRK’s obligation not to enter into any proliferation sensitive exports.
3. Although the disablement of the three core facilities at Yongbyon is still on-going and most of the agreed tasks were successfully completed prior to the agreed date of 31 December 2007, the EU calls on the DPRK to pursue, without delay, work towards an early completion of the reactor fuel unload which has been recently slowed down. We are concerned by the slow pace of implementation of other actions foreseen by the Joint Statement. In particular, the EU regrets that the DPRK has still not provided a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programmes. The EU therefore urges the DPRK to fulfil its commitments and provide a declaration of all its nuclear programmes as stipulated in the 3 October agreement on Second Phase Actions as soon as possible. This would further contribute to creating confidence among interested parties and would allow implementation of the third phase to proceed.
4. The EU supports the work of the IAEA in the DPRK and calls on the Six-Parties to facilitate the increased involvement of the Agency in the DPRK. The EU is convinced that the IAEA has an indispensable role in verifying future steps in the process, including the completeness and correctness of DPRK’s declaration of its nuclear programme. The EU calls on the DPRK to implement its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement in full so as to return to the IAEA without delay. The EU is finalizing the contractual arrangements enabling the implementation of the Joint Action in support of IAEA monitoring and verification activities in the DPRK, which was adopted on 19 November 2007 in the framework of the EU non-proliferation strategy. It is intended to provide close to 1.8 million EUR in support of the Agency's activities in the DPRK. The EU wishes to encourage other Member States, in particular those participating in the Six Party Talks, to consider additional contributions in order to ensure the continued implementation of the monitoring and verification activities of the IAEA.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman
