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STORY: UN / DPRK
TRT: 4:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
19 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations:
“We reiterate that any launch by the DPRK using ballistic missile technology is a violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and we strongly urge the DPRK to refrain from such actions.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations:
“We call on Security Council Members to unite and make full use of the tools of dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation, while fully complying with all Security Council resolutions. We also urge the DPRK to embrace diplomacy, rather than choosing isolation, as the only way forward.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations:
“Separately, I want to underscore concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the DPRK. The United Nations is ready to assist the DPRK in addressing the needs of its vulnerable populations. We note that international travel in and out of the DPRK is now taking place at a growing rate . We urge the DPRK to allow the re-entry and rotation of the international community, including the UN Resident Coordinator and UN agencies. A collective return will significantly enhance international support for the people of the DPRK and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, United States Mission to the United Nations:
“We are grateful that most of this Council has condemned the DPRK’s mounting threat to international peace and security. Most of this Council is committed to upholding the resolutions we adopted. Most of this Council does share the same goal of denuclearization. Now it is on Russia and China to join us to act as if their credibility as a responsible Permanent Members depends on them.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Ge Shuang, Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations:
“A certain country should face up to the crux of the Peninsula issue, discard the myth of exerting military pressure, put forward concrete feasible plans for dialogue and turn its remarks about unconditional dialogue into reality. Through practical actions, it can help advance the process of finding a political solution to the Peninsula issue and thus safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Song Kim, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:
“The ICBM launch conducted by DPRK this time, is a warning countermeasure in the face of the current situation. This notwithstanding the United States and few countries, blindly following it forcibly convened this meeting again, to be recorded as a shameful one in the history of the United Nation, while illegally and unlawfully taking issue with the DPRK which exercise undeniable just and legitimate rights of a sovereign State to self-defense, recognized by international law, including UN Charter and equally conferring all UN Member States.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. Wide shot, ambassadors arriving at the podium
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, United States Mission to the United Nations:
“Together on behalf of Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we condemn in the strongest terms the DPRK is December 17 ICBM launch and those before it. Because we cannot become inured to this behavior. We cannot turn a blind eye to the DPRK’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, or for that matter, its malicious cyber activity in flagrant human rights violations and abuses, including those involving abductions.”
17. Wide shot, ambassadors at the podium
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs, United States Mission to the United Nations:
“The Council’s silence sends the wrong message to Pyongyang and all proliferators. And so, while we urge the DPRK to abandon its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs, and instead invest in feeding the people in North Korea. We also urge the Security Council, every member of the Security Council, to exercise its responsibility and overcome its prolonged silence without exception to uphold the global non-proliferation regime. We also urge Council Members to follow through on their commitments and call on all UN Member States to fully and effectively implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
19. Wide shot, ambassador Wood leaving the podium
UN senior official for political affairs Khaled Khiari reiterated that any launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) using ballistic missile technology is “a violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and we strongly urge the DPRK to refrain from such actions.”
According to the official news agency of the DPRK and various government sources, the DPRK launched a Hwasong 18 type intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at 8:24 AM local time on 18 December. The missile flew a distance of app roximately 1,00 0 km and reached an altitude of 6, 500 km before falling into the sea.
This is the fifth launch of a n ICBM in 2023, following a Hwasong 15 in February, a Hwasong 17 in March, and solid fuel Hwasong 18 missiles in April and July. The systems are reportedly capable of reaching most points on Earth.
Khiari told the Council today (19 Dec) that the launch of yet another ICBM is of serious concern. Despite numerous meetings of the Security Council on this matter in 2023, the DPRK did not heed the strong call from the Security Council to refrain from further launches.
The UN senior official called on Security Council Members to “unite and make full use of the tools of dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation, while fully complying with all Security Council resolutions.”
He also urged the DPRK to “embrace diplomacy, rather than choosing isolation, as the only way forward.”
Khiari underscored concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the DPRK.
He said, “The United Nations is ready to assist the DPRK in addressing the needs of its vulnerable populations,” adding that “we note that international travel in and out of the DPRK is now taking place at a growing rate. We urge the DPRK to allow the re-entry and rotation of the international community, including the UN Resident Coordinator and UN agencies.”
The UN senior official concluded, “A collective return will significantly enhance international support for the people of the DPRK and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.”
US Ambassador Robert Wood told the Council that his country is grateful that most of this Council has condemned the DPRK’s mounting threat to international peace and security.
He said, “Most of this Council is committed to upholding the resolutions we adopted. Most of this Council does share the same goal of denuclearization.”
“Now it is on Russia and China to join us to act as if their credibility as a responsible Permanent Members depends on them,” Ambassador Wood said.
Chinese Ambassador Ge Shuang told Council, “A certain country should face up to the crux of the Peninsula issue, discard the myth of exerting military pressure, put forward concrete feasible plans for dialogue and turn its remarks about unconditional dialogue into reality.”
“Through practical actions, it can help advance the process of finding a political solution to the Peninsula issue and thus safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula,” Ambassador Ge reiterated.
North Korean Ambassador Song Kim said, “The ICBM launch conducted by DPRK this time, is a warning countermeasure in the face of the current situation.”
He added, “This notwithstanding the United States and few countries, blindly following it forcibly convened this meeting again, to be recorded as a shameful one in the history of the United Nation, while illegally and unlawfully taking issue with the DPRK which exercise undeniable just and legitimate rights of a sovereign State to self-defense, recognized by international law, including UN Charter and equally conferring all UN Member States.”
Before the Council’s meeting, US Ambassador Robert Wood together with other Representatives, spoke to reporters.
He said, “Together on behalf of Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we condemn in the strongest terms the DPRK is December 17 ICBM launch and those before it.”
He stated, “we cannot become inured to this behavior. We cannot turn a blind eye to the DPRK’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, or for that matter, its malicious cyber activity in flagrant human rights violations and abuses, including those involving abductions.”
Ambassador Wood also said, “Counsil’s silence sends the wrong message to Pyongyang and all proliferators.”
He reiterated, “while we urge the DPRK to abandon its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs, and instead invest in feeding the people in North Korea, we also urge the Security Council, every member of the Security Council, to exercise its responsibility and overcome its prolonged silence without exception to uphold the global non-proliferation regime.”
The US Ambassador also urged Council Members to “follow through on their commitments and call on all UN Member States to fully and effectively implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
