North Korea, 2014

On behalf of the delegation of the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, I should first

like to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Sam Kahamba

Kutesa on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-ninth session.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea fully

endorses the main theme of this session, “Delivering

on and implementing a transformative post-2015

development agenda”. Development is one of the

core missions of the United Nations. With peace, it

constitutes one of the two pillars for the sustainable

development of humankind. During the first 15 years

of the new millennium, the world has seen the poverty

rate reduced by half. It is proof of success, illustrating

the correctness of the Millennium Development Goals,

adopted at the Millennium Summit, with the elimination

of poverty as the main target.

It has been a particularly difficult time for the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. However,

we too have overcome severe hardships. Despite

an unprecedentedly persistent economic blockade,

military threat and political obstruction, we have firmly

safeguarded national dignity, effectively deterred war

and put the stagnant economy on an upward track

under the leadership of the great General Kim Jong Il.

Today we have at last secured a reliable springboard to

leap into a powerful nation, following the guidance of

respected Marshal Kim Jong Un.

In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

today, a grand construction boom is in full swing, and

modern factories and enterprises befitting the era of

the knowledge economy are being built and founded at

record-breaking speed in many parts of the country. We

have observed a great leap in our fishing industry and

livestock farming, as well as a blooming new twenty-

first century civilization in the living environment and

cultural and welfare spheres for future generations and

the working masses.

The climate change Summit held just a few days

ago was a successful gathering that constituted part

of the active measures being taken across the United

Nations system to ensure the survival of humankind

and sustainable development by protecting the global

ecosystem and addressing climate change.

The United Nations and international relations

should be democratized further. The principle of

sovereign equality enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations is exactly same as the principle of respect for

sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs

of other nations. However, acts of high-handedness and

arbitrariness — veiled under various disguises such

as democracy, humanitarian crises, counter-terrorism,

human rights protection and non-proliferation — are

committed brazenly in the form of sanctions, blockade,

military threat and armed intervention. That is the stern

reality we witness today.

Proceeding from its consistent position of opposing

interference and sanctions in all their manifestations

against sovereign States, our delegation holds that

the unilateral economic, trade and financial blockade

imposed by the United States against Cuba should be

immediately dismantled.

With respect to the issue of enhancing the central

role of the United Nations, we see its functions and

role regarding peace and security lagging far behind

others. As stipulated in the Charter, Member States

entrusted the Security Council with the maintenance of

international peace and security as its first and foremost

responsibility. Present reality shows that in lieu of the

Security Council — which is still mired in the paralysis

of the Cold War — a permanent member seeks to act as

the military police of the world through military blocs

or bilateral military alliances that have nothing to do

with the United Nations.

The anachronistic stereotypes and prejudices of the

Security Council find their most extreme expression

in the prevailing situation on the Korean peninsula.

The world remembers that the situation on the Korean

peninsula reached the touch-and-go brink of war last

year. It started with the United States-South Korea joint

military exercises aimed at occupying the capital city

of Pyongyang of the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea.

In January, the Government of the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea made a proposal to

stop hostile military acts on the Korean peninsula,

but provocative joint military exercises against the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were forcibly

conducted in March, April and August. The Government

of the Democratic People’s Republic officially referred

to the Security Council the issue of suspending such

war exercises, which seriously endanger the peace and

security of the Korean peninsula and the region as a

whole. However, the Council turned its back. As the

joint military exercises were led by one of its permanent

members, the Council was bound to close its eyes, block

its ears and shut its mouth, no matter how enormous in

scale, aggressive in purpose and dangerous in nature

they were.

Even in the Cold War period, measures were in

place between the East and the West to restrict the

number of military exercises in which more than 40,000

troops took part. We are obliged to ask why such war

exercises, with the participation of more than 500,000

troops at a time, are needed annually only on the Korean

peninsula, nearly a quarter of a century after the Cold

War ended.

At present, the Government of the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea has set economic

construction and improvement of the people’s living

standards as its major task. Accordingly, a peaceful

environment is vital in allowing us to lead the recently

improving trend of the national economy to sustainable

development. A peaceful environment and the reduction

of tensions are more precious to us now than at any time.

The tense situation on the Korean peninsula does not

help us. On the contrary, it presents a serious obstacle

to our efforts to achieve economic development and an

improved living standard.

War exercises focused on landing, long-range

nuclear bombing and commando operations aimed at

occupying the capital city of another country can never

be viewed as defensive. The claim that they are annual

in nature is just a veiled attempt to succeed in a surprise

attack after creating chronic immunity to them.

The reform of the Security Council should no

longer be delayed. The Council’s current structure

and method of work have long been out of date, as

confirmed by the expressed general will of Member

States reflected in resolution 47/62, adopted in 1992.

The Security Council should no longer be an exhibition

showcase for the extreme manifestation of the double

standard. We must put an end to the unjust practice

whereby the military exercises waged by a permanent

member of the Council are covered up with no regard

to their serious threat to peace and security, whereas

those conducted by a Member State in response are

called into question, although they are inevitable and

self-defensive in nature.

Likewise, the Security Council simply ignores

the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israel under the

patronage of a permanent member, yet selectively takes

issue with the actions of the Syrian Government in

defence of the sovereignty and stability of its country.

This unjust practice cannot be tolerated. In particular,

no act should be allowed to encroach on the sovereignty

and territorial integrity of Syria under the guise of

counter-terrorism.

The Security Council should no longer serve as

a forum for the spreading of lies. Eleven years ago,

we heard with our own ears the accusation made at a

Security Council meeting by a permanent member

that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

(see S/PV.4701). A military invasion followed, and

tragic bloodshed resulted. Only then did the world

come to realize that it had heard the big lie of the

century. However, because the big lie had come from

a permanent member, the Security Council kept silent

again. As a result, the bloodshed continues even today,

after 11 years.

The Security Council should not be abused as a

tool to justify high-handedness and arbitrariness. The

United Nations Charter stipulates that the Security

Council should act in conformity with the principles

of justice and international law. The Security Council

has no authority to adopt a resolution that prohibits the

peaceful launch of a satellite by a Member State, as that

is in contravention of international law, in particular the

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States

in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including

the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

The reform of the Security Council would,

in essence, democratize the United Nations and

international relations. The United Nations is not a

monarchy and the Security Council is not a senate.

The reform of the Security Council will not be possible

unless its members decide in good faith to give up their

prerogatives in the interests of democracy. Given the

changing times and the demands of the majority of

Member States, the permanent member that is most

vociferous about the export of democracy should reflect

on whether or not its preaching is just hypocrisy. Should

the Security Council fail to reform itself and remain

out of step with the times, Member States may well opt

for a United Nations without such an anachronistic and

undemocratic Council.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

maintains that all problems pertaining to international

relations should be resolved not by high-handedness and

arbitrariness, but in strict accordance with the principles

of sovereign equality enshrined in the United Nations

Charter. The nuclear issue is a matter of the sovereignty

and the right to exist of a Member State and must take

precedence over peace and security. The hostile policy,

nuclear threat and stifling strategy pursued by the

United States for more than half a century inevitably

prompted the decision of the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea to become a nuclear-weapon State.

The nuclear deterrent of the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea is neither intended to threaten or

attack others, nor a bargaining chip to be exchanged

for something else. The nuclear issue will be resolved if

and when the substance of the threat to our sovereignty

and right to life is removed through the termination

of the hostile policy of the United States towards the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Politicization, selectivity and double standards are

out of place when dealing with human rights issues. The

abuse of human rights for political purposes is in itself

the biggest human rights violation. The Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea is firmly opposed to all

attempts and actions to force regime change on specific

countries by alleging abuse of human rights. The United

States does not recognize the national sovereignty that

safeguards the human rights of our people. That being

the case, it is hypocritical of it to find fault with our

human rights issues. It is all the more preposterous

that the United States should talk about a human rights

dialogue when it adamantly prevents the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea — the party directly

involved — from participating in the meeting on the

latter’s own human rights situation.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is

always open to dialogue and cooperation in the case of

genuine human rights issues that are devoid of any form

of political motivation or hypocrisy. The Government of

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is willing to

promote human rights dialogue and cooperation on an

equal footing with other countries that are not hostile to

it. It is also willing to facilitate technical cooperation,

contact and communication with the United Nations

and other international organizations in the human

rights field.

The reunification of the fatherland is the supreme

desire of the entire Korean nation. The Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea maintains that national

reunification should be achieved not through a

confrontation of systems but by a confederation formula

whereby two systems coexist in a single country. It

is the only way to prevent war and safeguard peace.

The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic

of Korea is sincerely striving by both word and deed

to develop inter-Korean relations and to orient them

towards reunification through confederation.

As South Korea has relinquished its military

prerogatives to the United States in their entirety, it

has no idea how many weapons of mass destruction of

various kinds — capable of destroying the Korean nation

more than hundreds of times over — are now deployed

and hidden on its own soil. It should therefore refrain

from prattling and dreaming about the unrealistic and

fictitious proposal for reunification copied from the

formula of other countries.

I should like to assure members that the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea will constructively

participate in delivering on the post-2015 development

agenda at the current session and thus make an active

contribution to the work for the successful adoption

of the development agenda next year on the occasion

of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the

United Nations. Independence, peace and friendship

are the foreign policy ideals of the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea. As in the past, the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea will fulfil its responsibilities

and discharge its role as an independent Member

State by steadfastly adhering to these ideals in United

Nations activities.