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Thank you Mr Chairman.
We thank the Director General for his verbal update on developments with respect to the application of safeguards in the DPRK.
We share the Director General’s concern about the lack of progress in the DPRK. New Zealand regrets that the DPRK has not re-engaged with the IAEA following its announcement on 14 April 2009 that it was ceasing cooperation with the Agency and that it would be reactivating all of its facilities and proceeding with the reprocessing of spent fuel.
The DPRK has continued to take backward steps since that announcement, including conducting a second nuclear test on 25 May 2009, and returning the Yongbyon nuclear facility back to its original state. New Zealand is deeply concerned by these developments, viewing them as provocative and destabilising acts, which undermine international confidence in the moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.
New Zealand has also expressed grave concern at the findings of the joint international investigation that the 26 March sinking of ROKS Cheonan was caused by a North Korean torpedo. The inquiry’s conclusion reflects on a serious, deliberate and unprovoked challenge to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and regional security more broadly.
Mr Chairman
New Zealand has consistently registered its disappointment at the DPRK’s actions to develop its nuclear programme, including through our ongoing support for measures adopted by the UN Security Council in response to events in the DPRK.
In this context my delegation recalls the latest IAEA General Conference resolution on the DPRK, GC(53)/RES/15, which stressed the importance of the full implementation of the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement, including the commitment made by the DPRK to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes.
Through this consensus resolution, New Zealand also joined the General Conference in calling upon the DPRK to come into full compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to cooperate promptly with the Agency in the full and effective implementation of Agency comprehensive safeguards, and to resolve any outstanding issues that may have arisen due to the long absence of Agency safeguards. We also note and reiterate the call by the 2010 NPT Review Conference for the DPRK to return to the Treaty.
Mr Chairman
We urge North Korea to refrain from further destabilising acts. The North Korean leadership must refocus its efforts towards peace and dialogue, including its Six Party Talks commitment to abandon its existing nuclear programme.
Finally, we see value in the ongoing inclusion of the DPRK on the agenda of the IAEA Board of Governors.
Thank you Mr Chairman.
