Persistent Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons by Pyongyang Continues to Undermine Global Non-proliferation Regime, Assistant Secretary-General Tells Security Council
(Note: Owing to the liquidity crisis affecting our organization, complete coverage of today's Security Council meeting will be made available on Thursday, 8 May.)
The persistent pursuit of nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programmes by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — in violation of Security Council resolutions — continues to undermine the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, a senior United Nations official told the 15-nation organ today.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, reported that Pyongyang has continued to conduct ballistic-missile launches, openly display undeclared uranium-enrichment facilities and communicate its intention to further develop its nuclear and ballistic-missile capabilities. “At this critical juncture, it remains as important as ever to continue to highlight the urgent need to reduce nuclear risk, prevent any use of a nuclear weapon and bring about their total elimination,” he stressed.
He then recalled that the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1874 (2009) supported efforts to monitor the implementation of the resolutions established in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programmes. While the Council did not renew the Panel’s mandate beyond 30 April 2024, the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) continues to oversee the sanctions regime. “We recall the obligations for all Member States to implement the relevant sanctions measures,” he said.
“The broader security landscape on the Korean Peninsula remains tense,” he went on to say, pointing to heightened military activity, limited avenues for both intra-Korean and regional dialogue, nuclear risks and “growing concerns over the potential for miscalculation”. Recalling that the Secretary-General has consistently underscored that sustainable peace and denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula “must be anchored in dialogue and diplomacy”, he welcomed “any efforts” towards this end. He also called on Pyongyang to facilitate the return of the UN country team to “strengthen support for its people and advance the 2030 Agenda [for Sustainable Development]”.
Next, James Byrne, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the non-profit Open Source Centre, said that his team has conducted years of comprehensive investigations into Pyongyang’s sanctions-evasion activities. “A number of our recent reports have been published, focusing on the North Korean movement of munitions,” he stated. And a further report, released today, details another persistent and concerning pattern of sanctions violations. “Since October 2024, we have tracked a number of [vessels] engaged in the lifting and moving of North Korean coal and iron ore from their ports to other ports in countries abroad — including China,” he said.
“The vessels are called the ARMANI, CARTIER, CASIO, SOPHIA, YI LI 1 and the AN YU,” Mr. Byrne continued, sharing images of the named vessels loading coal. Further, he said that these vessels have engaged in “sophisticated spoofing” techniques, describing a process by which they transmit as if they are located in other countries despite satellite imagery showing the same vessels loading in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The team correlated such vessels’ automatic-identification-system data with an array of medium- and high-resolution satellite imagery during this investigation, he added.
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