Statement by the U.S. Delegation IAEA Board of Governor's Meeting

The United States joined consensus today in the adoption of a new resolution by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding recent actions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill, U.S. Representative to the United States Mission to International Organizations in Vienna, read the following statement to IAEA Board Chairwoman, Nabeela Al-Mulla, on behalf of the United States:

Madame Chairwoman, since our last meeting in November, the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has taken a series of dangerous and deplorable unilateral actions exacerbating its violations of the NPT [non-proliferation treaty]. By cutting seals and disabling cameras, the DPRK has become the first country unilaterally to disable IAEA containment and surveillance systems. Last week, the DPRK expelled IAEA inspectors.

North Korea has thus put itself in direct defiance of the international community’s clear demands that it must verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The DPRK's precipitous move toward restarting its plutonium production facilities without IAEA monitoring and its pursuit of a highly enriched uranium nuclear weapons program compound its existing violation of its NPT safeguards agreement, and thus of the NPT.

As the Director General and the Secretariat have repeatedly made clear to the DPRK, the NPT and the DPRK-IAEA Safeguards Agreement remain fully in force, and it must respect them. The DPRK has ignored the Agency’s explanations and flouted its Safeguards Agreement. These actions are a threat to regional and international stability. As the Board has made clear today, the DPRK’s actions are unacceptable to the international community.

Madame Chairwoman, when the Director General or Secretariat or other concerned member states have tried to engage the DPRK in dialogue about these nuclear issues, the invariable response from the North Korean side has been that they are bilateral issues between the DPRK and the U.S., and of no concern to the rest of the international community. Today’s Board resolution, like our resolution of November 29, shows that this is not the case. States throughout the world supported this resolution because all of us are concerned with the compliance of each with all the NPT requirements.

The DPRK has also claimed that it is restarting its facilities to meet its energy needs. This is belied by its actions. The 5 MW [megawatt] reactor produces little electricity, and as Director-General El-Baradei has noted, North Korea's reprocessing facility is irrelevant to its ability to produce electricity. North Korea has no legitimate peaceful use for plutonium, or highly enriched uranium.

The DPRK’s claims that it is “under threat” from the United States and consequently has a “right” to violate its nonproliferation treaty obligations is also, of course, nonsense. President Bush and other senior U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed that we intend no military action against North Korea and believe the present situation can and should be resolved peacefully through diplomatic means. The United States will be patient in those efforts, and we will work closely with other interested states to find a peaceful way forward. But we must not and we will not allow the DPRK to turn its violation of its international obligations into political or economic benefits.

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons in spite of its Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments. We call on North Korea to reverse its current course, to take all steps necessary to come into immediate compliance with its IAEA safeguards agreement, and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program, both plutonium and uranium, in a comprehensive and verifiable manner.

Madame Chairwoman, the United States very strongly welcomes the Board’s adoption today of a resolution that expresses the unanimous view of its members – and, we believe, of the entire international community. The DPRK’s actions violate its international obligations to the IAEA and constitute a severe challenge to the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.

Madame Chairwoman, the IAEA has played an essential and long-standing role in monitoring the DPRK's nuclear facilities. My Government strongly supports and commends efforts made by the Director General and the Secretariat in regard to North Korea's recent actions, and we recognize the IAEA's central role in continuing to demand that the DPRK implement its NPT comprehensive safeguards agreement.

The DPRK's nuclear weapons program is a shared challenge to all responsible nations. North Korea has been told clearly in statements from APEC [Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation], KEDO [Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization], the IAEA and by many nations that its relations with the international community hinge on its verifiable dismantlement of its plutonium and uranium nuclear weapons program. The United States attaches great importance to close cooperation with our friends and allies on this issue, at the IAEA and in other international fora. Today’s resolution demands that North Korea comply with its international obligations. We will continue to consult closely with our friends and allies on next steps, but we want to be very clear that absent prompt North Korean action to comply, the IAEA has an obligation to report to the Security Council that North Korea has violated its NPT and safeguards obligations.

Thank you, Madame Chairwoman.