Remarks by Ambassador Koro Bessho following Security Council Consultations on 1718 Committee

30 August 2016

 

 

Ambassador Koro Bessho: Good afternoon. I would just like to say a few words on one of the themes that was discussed in the Security Council this morning, and that is the 1718 Committee or the North Korea Sanctions Committee, as it’s usually understood to be. I had special interest in this because we have had to deal with numerous provocations by the North Koreans in the last several months. As you know, the North Korea Sanctions Committee is mandated to give a report once every 90 days, or about once every 3 months, and this was the report that was given to the Council. The last one was on May 4th. It was an update of what has happened, what the committee has been trying to do in that period.

 

I will talk for myself because I am not in a position to talk about others, but what I can say is that in the last 90 days we’ve had numerous, very many provocative actions taken by North Korea and what I said in the committee was that although if we look at the implementation of 2270 there are some positive elements such as the number of reports of national implementation that is being reported by the member states. That is up to 52 at this moment, which is much larger than usual standards. So we appreciate that. And there have been some specific cases where we have seen some good implementation by member states about sanctioning North Korea. But having said that, the number of provocative actions taken by North Korea in the last 90 days has been phenomenal. And it’s not just numbers, it’s the extent which the progress of nuclear technology and missile technology are being advanced during that time has been quite noteworthy. And this presents a serious threat to the region and to the world as a whole. So I stressed that point and I stressed also that we cannot allow such continued development of nuclear and missile technology by North Korea. The Council should be united in taking appropriate action in the future. I felt that the other members too felt that obviously the actions taken by North Korea are against resolution 2270. As you know the Council came out with a very strong press statement recently, and the unity shown there, I think was repeated again today. And I feel that we are in a position to continue further in making sure that the Council takes appropriate action at the appropriate time in order to deter North Korea from going down this wrong direction. So that is what I have to say at the outset. If there are any questions, I’ll be happy to answer.

 

Question:  Ambassador, what do you mean by “appropriate action?” What would you like to see?

 

Ambassador Bessho: Well, I shouldn’t really pre-judge the future. This is something that the Security Council needs to discuss. I feel that many members did support the idea that we should be trying to come up with further measures but I cannot pre-judge the future, obviously.

 

Question:  A related question, how did you assess the last press statement against North Korea?  Last time, China also consented to adopt the statement.

 

Ambassador Bessho: Well obviously many members including Japan were pleased that we were able to be united in coming up with that statement. It was of course unanimous because press statements are unanimous and I think there was strong support of many countries. Members have referred to that press statement. At the same time, I think there is a feeling, and certainly Japan feels that the fact that we were not able to agree on responding each time there is a provocation, that we had to wait until this most recent time, is regrettable. At the same time we need to see further action by the Security Council in sending a very strong and united message to North Korea to stop their provocation but also to stop their nuclear and missile development.

 

Question:  It seems these launches, it’s described that the technology is getting more advanced, that they’re moving down the road. Do you think that the sanctions of the type that the Council has imposed… Can they get to that? Are the right materials being stopped? What’s the relationship between the sanctions and these particular ballistic missile firings?

 

Ambassador Bessho: Well I think the discussion is ongoing in the Security Council about that, but if I may speak for Japan, we feel that sanctions are necessary and that 2270 has provided us with a very strong tool for dealing with DPRK going down this road. But we need to implement 2270 rigorously and we feel that we can do more in terms of sanctions in order to show to DPRK that they just cannot keep on going in this way.

 

Question:  Was there any discussion about adding any new names or companies or entities in today’s conversation? Thank you.

                                                                                                                  

Ambassador Bessho: There was no specific discussion about what kinds of things to do in the future. Obviously technical discussions can be done at the 1718 Committee and obviously the guidance should be given by the Security Council but today we did not have specific discussions on specific things.

 

Question:  Where are we right now with implementation of the sanctions? How many countries have submitted their implementation reports?

 

Ambassador Bessho: I think I did say 52 countries have submitted their reports which is progress, and we appreciate that, but of course it can be bigger. So we would like to continue to invite other countries to file their reports. Thank you.