North Korea, 2013

First of all, on behalf of the delegation of

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, allow me

to congratulate Mr. John William Ashe on his election

as the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session. I am convinced that his competent

leadership will lead this session towards success.

The Millennium Summit, held in 2000, advanced

peace and security, sustainable development and the

protection and promotion of human rights as the three

key objectives of the United Nations. Ever since the

inception of the United Nations, humankind has aspired

to build a new, peaceful world, free from war, while at

the same time aspiring to achieve common prosperity

and development based on cooperation among Member

States. That aspiration, however, is far from coming

true, even after a new century and the passage of the

first decade of the new millennium.

A high-handed and arbitrary approach is

becoming ever more rampant in international relations.

Infringements upon sovereignty, interference in internal

affairs and regime change continue unabated under

the pretexts of non-proliferation and the protection of

human rights, for which the United Nations is being

abused. Confrontation between forces with different

interests, States and civilizations, and wars large and

small, keep taking place in different parts of the world,

severely damaging the credibility of the United Nations,

whose primary mission is to ensure peace and security.

Those developments clearly demonstrate that

sustainable development and the real protection of

human rights will remain a figment of our imagination

as long as there is no peace and security as stipulated in

the Charter of the United Nations. International relations

should reject any State’s high-handed and arbitrary

approach on the part of a State that undermines peace

and security in order to achieve genuine cooperation

and development among countries based on the

sovereign equality of States. The unjust intervention,

pressure and use of force that is unfolding in Syria by

way of infringements on its sovereignty and territorial

integrity, which further breach peace and stability,

should not be allowed under any circumstances, and the

United States blockade against Cuba should be brought

to an end at the earliest possible date.

The international community unanimously

demands the elimination of all nuclear weapons and

encourages the building of a nuclear-weapon-free world

through nuclear disarmament. As agreed at a High-

level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament held during the

current session, on the initiative of the Non-Aligned

Movement, negotiations on nuclear disarmament should

begin without further delay to work on universal legal

instruments that codify negative security assurances

and the prohibition of nuclear weapons, among other

things.

The choice of “The post-2015 development agenda:

setting the stage” as the theme for the current session

serves to highlight the importance of sustainable

development for world peace and our common prosperity.

We have little time left before the 2015 deadline for the

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,

including poverty reduction in particular. However,

much to our regret, international efforts in that regard

have not produced the long-overdue results. By

identifying and successfully attaining the post-2015

sustainable development goals, practical measures

need to be taken to address issues such as establishing

fair international economic relations, transferring

environmentally sound technology to developing

countries and strengthening financial support.

Despite international efforts towards the protection

and promotion of human rights, high-handedness

and double standards are becoming ever more visible

in United Nations human rights forums, targeting

developing countries as selectively as in the past.

Politicization, selectivity and double standards should

be put to an end in such forums, and no one should be

able to justify or allow the continuation of a situation

where the human rights situation in some countries

is either called into question or simply ignored in

accordance with the political purpose and interests of

the West and Western values.

The reform of the United Nations is becoming an

issue that brooks no further delay in achieving the

major United nations goals to which I have referred in

the twenty-first century.

In addressing key international issues, the General

Assembly should be empowered to have the final

say, since it represents the overall will of the entire

membership. In particular, Security Council resolutions

pertaining to peace and security, such as those on

sanctions and the use of force, should be made effective

only under the authority and with the approval of the

General Assembly. Instances of the Council being

abused by a certain State as a tool of strategic interest

should never go unchallenged.

Last January, under the manipulation of the United

States, the forcible adoption of an unfair resolution on

sanctions took place (Security Council resolution 2087

(2013)) by making an issue of our legitimate satellite

launch for peaceful purposes — something that was

conducted and recognized under international law.

That represents a typical example of how and for what

purpose the power of the Security Council is being

abused. The reform of the Council, which is a key

component of reforming the United Nations, should

be undertaken on the basis of principles for ensuring

accountability, transparency and impartiality in its

activities, thereby ensuring the full representation of

developing countries in its composition.

Today in the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea, the entire population is engaged in an all-out

campaign to build a thriving socialist State in the

nearest possible future, under the wise leadership of

the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un. Marshal

Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of our people, gives

continuous on-the-spot guidance across the country,

offering direction and innovative ways for speeding

up economic development and the improvement of

people’s livelihoods.

Practical measures are being taken, one after

another, to revitalize the overall national economy,

bringing about success in the fields of economic

development and improving people’s welfare. Nothing

is more precious than creating a stable and peaceful

environment for the Government of the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea and the Korean people,

who helped build economic power and improved

people’s livelihoods as part of the Government’s

overall objective. Although our efforts for peaceful

development are faced with grave challenges, the

Korean people will surely bring about the day of

final victory by advancing with full confidence and

optimism, united single-handedly around Marshal Kim

Jong Un and under his wise leadership.

Sixty years have passed since the gunfire that

ended a fierce three-year-long war and the signing

of the Armistice Agreement in the Korean peninsula

last century. Yet there is still no mechanism in place

to guarantee peace, resulting in the continuation of

the unsustainable situation — one of neither war nor

peace — on the Korean peninsula.

With the aim of achieving military domination of

North-East Asia, the United States, using the Korean

peninsula as a stepping stone, has designated the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as its primary

target of attack and is beefing up its military presence

in South Korea and the vicinity. Furthermore, it stages a

series of war exercises against the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea every year, with massive build-ups

of hundreds of thousands of troops and modern military

equipment, continuously escalating confrontation and

fuelling tensions.

The United Nations Command, the outdated legacy

of the Korean War, continues to serve the United States

military strategy by abusing the name of the United

Nations. The United Nations Command, which has

nothing to do with the United Nations, continuously

conducts military actions threatening the Korean

peninsula and its surrounding area in the name of the

United Nations under the baton of the United States. That

shows that resolution 3390 (XXX), which the Assembly

adopted at its thirtieth session and which calls for the

dissolution of the United Nations Command, remains

nothing more than a piece of paper. It also shows to

what extent the credibility of the United Nations has

been undermined.

The repeated vicious cycle of mounting tensions on

the Korean peninsula has its roots in the hostile policy

of the United States towards the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea. The United States designated

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with its

different ideology and system, as its enemy from the

very day of its foundation and has refused to recognize

its sovereignty and has imposed all sorts of sanctions,

pressure and military threats on the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea for more than half a century.

The only way to ensure lasting peace on the

Korean peninsula is to bring the hostile United States

policy to an end. The United States should abolish its

hostile policy by, among other things, respecting the

sovereignty of the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea, replacing the Armistice Agreement with a peace

mechanism, dismantling the United Nations Command

without further delay and lifting all sanctions and

military threats.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

remains consistent in its stance and in its efforts to

put an end to the tensions on the Korean peninsula by

peaceful means through dialogue and negotiations,

and to contribute to ensuring peace and security in

the region. In order to achieve genuine peace and ease

tensions on the Korean peninsula, we are making every

possible effort and displaying maximum patience.

Reunifying the country is a long-cherished desire

and the most pressing task of the Korean nation. As

we entered the new century, North-South summit

meetings were held on two occasions, with joyful

enthusiasm shared by all our countrymen, adopting

the 15 June North-South joint declaration and the

4 October declaration, thus providing a milestone for

reconciliation, collaboration and reunification between

the North and South of Korea.

Thanks to the active and generous efforts of the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a window of

opportunity has opened for improving North-South

relations after a long period of deadlock. However, the

outdated confrontational approach we are coming up

against from the South Korean authorities risks driving

relations back into a destructive stage.

As clarified by the 15 June joint declaration and

the 4 October declaration, the only way to achieve the

peaceful reunification of the country and to open the

way forward for the nation is to promote dialogue and

cooperation between the North and South of Korea by

joining hands in the spirit of the Korean nation itself.

We will work hand in hand with anyone who

truly seeks reconciliation and the reunification and

prosperity of the nation. We will strive to accomplish

the historic cause of national reunification through the

concerted efforts of the nation under the 15 June joint

declaration and the 4 October declaration.

In conclusion, the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea will continue to strengthen and develop friendly

and cooperative relations with all States Members of

the United Nations, support the placing of the situation

on the Korean peninsula under stable management as

a member of the international community, and fully

exercise its responsibility and role in ensuring world

peace and the common prosperity of humankind,

pursuant to its foreign policy of ideals, independence,

peace and friendship.