MOFA Hosts Side Event on North Korean Nuclear Issue during 2024 Preparatory Committee for 11th NPT Review Conference

1. On July 23, the Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, hosted a side event on the North Korean nuclear issue during the 2024 Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in Room XXII, Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

※ Since the 2017 Preparatory Committee for the 2022 NPT Review Conference, the ROK, in cooperation with France, has hosted side events and issued joint statements on the North Korean nuclear issue on the occasion.

2. The side event, titled "Addressing Non-compliance of the NPT: Case Study on the DPRK," was attended by representatives from governments, academia, international organizations and civil society, demonstrating the international community's keen interest in the North Korean nuclear issue.

3. The speakers expressed shared concern over North Korea's continuing development of nuclear programs. They also highlighted that North Korea's nuclear ambitions pose an existential threat to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, of which the NPT is a corner stone, because North Korea is the only case to have joined the NPT, begun the development of nuclear weapons, and then declared its withdrawal from the Treaty.

4. In her opening remarks, Ambassador YOON Seong-mee, Permanent Representative of the ROK to the Conference on Disarmament, emphasized that the so-called North Korean nuclear crisis began with its non-compliance to the NPT through its refusal to fulfill treaty obligations as a Non-Nuclear-Weapon State. Ambassador YOON also called for the international community, including all States Parties to the NPT, to support and strengthen efforts to denuclearize North Korea in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

5. In an effort to promote youth engagement in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation, the side event also brought together youth delegates as panelists. A Korean Youth Envoy for Disarmament and Non-proliferation explained that North Korea's growing threat of use of nuclear weapons is causing security concerns among young Koreans. She also expressed her hope that the international community would continue to enhance engagement with global youth on disarmament and non-proliferation issues, including through the NPT review cycle.

※ The ROK Foreign Ministry has been hosting various participatory programs for youth as part of efforts to implement the Resolution on Youth, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, which has been adopted biennially by the UN General Assembly since 2019 under the ROK's initiative. To promote youth interest and engagement in disarmament and non-proliferation, the Foreign Ministry, since 2023, has annually appointed university students to serve as Korean youth envoys for disarmament and non-proliferation and to play a role in that regard.

6. The ROK and France are also planning to issue a joint statement on the North Korean nuclear issue during the Preparatory Committee. The joint statement, the previous version of which was endorsed by 74 States Parties at last year's Preparatory Committee, will express deep concern over North Korea's continuing nuclear and ballistic missile development and urge North Korea to return to the NPT and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards Agreement.