UN Authority Figures

UN Conference on Disarmament President: North Korea

North Korea is presiding over UN disarmamant body
(UN Press Release, June 28, 2011)

Mission of the Conference on Disarmament: The Conference on Disarmament mandate includes "all multilateral arms control and disarmament problems" with the following "main areas of interest: cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters; prevention of an arms race in outer space; effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons including radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament and transparency in armaments." (CD web-site)

North Korea's Term of office: A four-working-week period
(Note: North Korea assumed presidency on June 28, 2011; next session of the Conference starts on August 2, 2011)

North Korea's Record on "disarmament" and "cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament":
"The DPRK has twice tested nuclear weapons and is developing missiles to carry them. It has built facilities capable of producing highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons. In defiance of a U.N. arms embargo, it continues to export weapons and sensitive technologies to countries such as Myanmar." (U.S. and North Korea: The land of lousy options, By John Kerry, LA Times, June 26, 2011)

"On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced the successful test of a nuclear explosive device, verified by the United States on October 11. In response, the United Nations Security Council, citing Chapter VII of the UN Charter, unanimously passed Resolution 1718, condemning North Korea and imposing sanctions on certain luxury goods and trade of military units, WMD and missile-related parts, and technology transfers...On April 5, 2009, the D.P.R.K. launched a Taepo Dong-2 missile over the Sea of Japan, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718...On May 25, 2009, the D.P.R.K. announced that it had conducted a second test of a nuclear explosive device...On June 12, 2009, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1874, which expanded on the provisions of UNSCR 1718...On July 3-4, 2009, the D.P.R.K. fired a series of short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. In a September 2009 letter to the UN Security Council President, the D.P.R.K. announced that "experimental uranium enrichment has been successfully conducted to enter into completion phase." On October 12, 2009, the D.P.R.K. launched additional multiple short-range ballistic missiles...The D.P.R.K.'s revelation of a uranium enrichment program in November 2010 is in violation of its own commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement and its obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874." (US State Department Background Note: North Korea, April 29, 2011 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm)

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