North Korea, 2000

On behalf of the

delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of

Korea, I should like first of all to congratulate

Mr. Harri Holkeri on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. I believe

that the present session will produce the desired results

under his leadership. I pay tribute to his predecessor

Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, who made a great contribution

to the successful conclusion of the fifty-fourth session.

I wish also to express our great appreciation for the

efforts made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to

strengthen the role of the United Nations.

The central role of the United Nations in the new

century should be to establish international relations

and order to make the new century independent,

peaceful and prosperous. No country can either defend

its national dignity or achieve social and economic

development when its national sovereignty is violated.

26

This is the lesson for mankind on the threshold of the

twenty-first century.

It is the common aspiration of the world's peoples

that the twenty-first century should be a century of

independence, peace and development. Genuine peace

and prosperity on our planet can be achieved only

when the sovereignty of all countries is respected.

We regard independence as our life and soul. The

idea of independence runs through all domestic and

foreign policies and lines of the Government of the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This is the

brilliant embodiment of the independent policy of the

great leader General Kim Jong Il. The reality

prevailing on the Korean peninsula clearly testifies to

the justness of the independent policies consistently

carried out by the Government of the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea.

Without independence, it is unthinkable that our

country could overcome the manifold difficulties and

advance the building of a powerful nation convincingly

along the road chosen by its people.

The independent foreign policy of the

Government of the Democratic People's Republic of

Korea makes a tangible contribution to peace and

stability in North-East Asia. It can be said that it is

entirely because of our firm adherence to independence

that our country has been able to play a buffer-zone

role effectively in the intersection of the divergent

geopolitical interests of several countries. We take

pride in the independent foreign policy of our

Government, as it contributes to maintaining the

balance of power and preventing a war in North-East

Asia.

The independent policy of the Government of the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea also gives full

play to its vitality in advancing the cause of peace and

reunification on the Korean peninsula. The General

Assembly at its twenty-eighth session in 1973

unanimously welcomed the three principles of

independence, peaceful reunification and great national

unity which had been agreed upon by the north and the

south of the Korean peninsula. These three principles

of national reunification are the grand programme of

reunification put forward by President Kim Il Sung, the

great leader of our people, and constitute the most

essential component of the three-point charter for

national reunification defined by the respected General

Kim Jong Il.

At the historic Pyongyang meeting in June this

year, the leaders of the North and the South reaffirmed

these three principles of national reunification, and on

this basis the North-South joint declaration on solving

the reunification question independently by the

concerted efforts of our nation was made public. The

summit meeting and the resulting joint declaration

represent a historic milestone, marking a turning-point

in achieving the cause of independent reunification of

our nation.

Amidst the increased spirit of national

independence and reunification, North-South

ministerial talks for reconciliation and collaboration

are being held and the reunions of separated families

realized. Mutual visits between the North and the South

through, inter alia, direct flights between Pyongyang

and Seoul are now commonplace, and a project is

underway to re-link the railways between the North and

the South of Korea.

This is the brilliant fruition of our independent

policy and the result of a warm love for the nation and

strong desire for reunification. It is none other than the

Korean nation that is responsible for Korea's

reunification question. Korea's reunification should be

achieved independently by the concerted efforts of the

Koreans in the North and the South, as stated in the

North-South joint declaration. Reunification will come

about if both sides take realistic and practical measures

for establishing a reunified State by making the most of

common elements of the federation and the

confederation proposed by the North and the South

respectively.

The independent reunification of our nation will

surely lead to a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula,

and we believe that this will in turn contribute to peace

and security in Asia and the rest of the world.

The turning point created on the Korean

peninsula is a positive development of global

significance. We consider that the present trend

towards the improvement of North-South relations and

reunification is a process that should be valued for the

sake of peace and security in North-East Asia as well.

If this process is to continue to gain momentum, the

countries concerned should work in support of the

process, rather than disturbing it.

The United States has created our non-existent

“missile threat” in order to justify the establishment of

its “theatre missile defense” and “national missile

27

defense” systems. Nevertheless, it gives rise to

worldwide concern about its danger.

Our missile programme is of a peaceful nature,

for all intents and purposes. All countries have an equal

sovereign right, recognized by the United Nations, to

conduct research on and make use of the outer space. It

is therefore totally unfair for the United States to take

issue only with our rockets while many other countries

are launching their own space rockets. If hostile

relations are removed and confidence is built between

the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the

United States, there will be ways to address the

concerns on both sides.

The recent incident that prevented the President

of the Presidium of our Supreme People's Assembly

from attending the Millennium Summit is, after all, the

manifestation of the continued hostile policy pursued

by the United States against the Democratic People's

Republic of Korea, in labelling our country a

“terrorism-sponsoring nation”. In this regard, we note

that the United States has recognized its responsibility

for the incident and given assurances that such

incidents would not occur again. We also note the

recently stated United States position that it has no

reason to perpetuate its hostile relations with our

country. If this position is put into practice, we will be

ready to respond in a positive way at any time.

Another factor that casts a shadow on positive

development on the Korean peninsula is the suspicious

future of Japan. Whether Japan revives its militarist

spectre or becomes a peace-loving country is a serious

question directly linked to peace and stability in Asia,

particularly in its neighbouring Korean peninsula.

Continued evasion by Japan on settling its past with

our country is the main factor that makes us suspicious

of its future orientation. Moreover, such suspicion is

increased as we witness Japanese moves to find

pretexts for justifying its rearmament by targeting our

country as its “enemy”.

Should Japan take the path of militarism, it will

obviously strain its relations with other Asian countries

and exert negative effects on the improvement of

North-South relations. We hope Japan will not go in

this direction. Japan should find its future in a sincere

and early settlement of its past. Now that the North-

South joint declaration is being smoothly implemented,

new, sound international relations will be established in

North-East Asia once the hostile relations between the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United

States, and between the Democratic People's Republic

of Korea and Japan, are resolved.

In conformity with this encouraging process, the

United Nations should also take practical measures to

dismantle the “United Nations Command”, a legacy of

the cold war, thus making a due contribution to this

process.

In order to establish fair international relations

and an international order that will properly represent

the new century, it is important to successfully

overcome the challenges to the United Nations Charter.

The most serious challenge posed in international

relations at present is the emergence of the concept of

“humanitarian intervention”.

The United Nations is based on the principle of

sovereign equality. The Charter enshrines the principles

of respect for sovereignty and non-interference in

internal affairs as a cornerstone of international

relations.

These are the major principles based on the

reality in which big and small countries exist in the

world. All countries aspire to independence and

struggle to defend their national sovereignty.

Encroachment upon the sovereignty of small countries

by big Powers in exercise of power politics is an act of

high-handedness, as already judged by the times.

“Humanitarian intervention” is a dangerous concept

that could beautify such acts of high-handedness and

eliminate the essential spirit of the Charter.

The international relations of the new century

should serve to terminate arbitrariness and high-

handedness, such as threatening sovereign States by

force and imposing sanctions on them, and to fully

implement the purposes and principles of the United

Nations Charter. International peace and security

should be achieved by strengthening the role of the

United Nations, not by arbitrariness, high-handedness

and intervention by any individual big Power.

The role of the United Nations in the field of

disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, should

be enhanced. Despite an ever-growing desire and

expectation by international society for disarmament

after the end of the cold war, the disarmament process

is at a standstill, faced with new challenges. Reality

requires that the nuclear disarmament process be turned

into a United Nations process, instead of being left to

28

the nuclear-weapon States alone. We are of the view

that the fourth special session of the United Nations

General Assembly devoted to disarmament should be

held as early as possible, taking into due consideration

the demand of a large number of countries.

Another challenge to be effectively countered by

the United Nations in international relations is an

attempt to politicize the human rights issue. Along with

the use of force, the human rights issue constitutes one

of the two factors straining international relations. This

is demonstrated in the reality in which United Nations

meetings that address human rights issues are often

converted into an arena of confrontation, not

cooperation. In fact, there is no more grave human

rights violation than abusing the human rights issue for

political purposes. The United Nations should enhance

its role decisively to ensure that fairness is fully

observed, and not acquiesce in the application of

double standards when dealing with human rights

issues.

The twenty-first century should be a century of

development. Durable international peace and security

are inconceivable without the eradication of poverty

and the solution of social and economic problems. A

fair international economic order which is conducive to

sustainable economic development for the developing

countries should be established as early as possible. In

particular, it is imperative that the United Nations

further the analysis and assessment of the nature and

danger of globalization, as well as its impact on the

developing countries, and take necessary measures. In

this regard, we believe that the Declaration and Action

Programme adopted at the South Summit held in Cuba

last April can serve as an excellent basis for that

purpose.

In order for the United Nations to play a role

commensurate with the requirements of the new

century, it should be democratized through reform of

its structure. The main purpose of United Nations

reform is to ensure democracy and strict observance of

the principles of justice and fairness in all its activities.

The General Assembly has now been relatively

democratized, but it does not have sufficient authority.

In contrast, the Security Council has authority and

action capability but falls short of the desired degree of

democracy. In particular, the present structure of the

Security Council leaves a vacuum which allows the

United Nations to be used as a tool of high-handedness,

for the Council monopolizes decision-making power on

such critical issues as enforcement action, including the

use of force. The twentieth century witnessed such

cases on several occasions.

We hold that the enhancement of the authority of

the General Assembly is a prerequisite for ensuring

democracy in United Nations activities. The Assembly

must be empowered at least to review the issues of

international peace and security and to approve major

decisions and resolutions of the Security Council on

these issues.

In reforming the Security Council, priority should

be given to increasing the number of non-permanent

seats, thus correcting the present imbalance in regional

representation. It is also imperative that effective ways

be sought to ensure strict observance of the principles

of justice and fairness in United Nations activities.

We consider that one means to this end will be to

restore the confidence of the international community

in the United Nations by redressing those issues

mishandled in the past by the United Nations, in

contradiction to the purposes and principles of its

Charter, by force of arbitrariness and high-handedness.

Independence, peace and friendship are the

fundamental ideas of the foreign policy of the

Government of the Democratic People's Republic of

Korea. The Democratic People's Republic will remain

true to this idea and faithfully discharge its obligations

as a Member State of the United Nations, so that the

United Nations can become a truly effective

organization that creditably serves the aspirations and

requirements of the new century.