Discurso do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Sérgio França Danese, em reunião do Conselho de Segurança sobre a situação na República Popular Democrática da Coreia - 27 de novembro de 2023 (texto em inglês)
Statement by Permanent Representative, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, on Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
November 27th, 2023
Mister President
I thank ASG Khaled Khiari for his briefing and I welcome the participation of the representatives of the ROK and of the DPRK at this meeting. I thank the USA and other fellor Security Council members for requesting this meeting.
Once again, Brazil joins the international community in condemning the use of ballistic missile technology in the launch of a Satellite Launch Vehicle by the DPRK on November 21st.
While fully recognizing the right of all countries to pursue peaceful space programs, the DPRK must strictly comply with all of its obligations under international law and Security Council resolutions.
The launch of the SLV before the opening of the launch window announced by the DPRK posed risks to aircraft, ships and civilian populations in the region.
Above all, the withdrawal from the 2018 comprehensive military agreement between South Korea and the DPRK is a step backwards, away from dialogue and a peaceful understanding. This development could lead to accidents and misunderstandings along the inter-Korean border, which would put the security of the entire world at risk. We urge all parties to return to the negotiating table and avoid any measures that could further escalate the already tense situation.
Beyond the use of ballistic missile technology, we are also concerned about what this latest launch represents for a broader process of militarization of space and for regional stability.
The placement into orbit of the Malligyeong-1 reconnaissance satellite and the DPRK’s statement that it would launch “several reconnaissance satellites in a short span of time” suggest that the dynamics of competition in the region is entering a new phase. A phase with greater use of space assets to enhance warfighting capabilities on all sides.
The General Assembly has been actively engaged in discussions on space security precisely to create a framework of binding and nonbinding norms that allow us to manage the growing competition in outer space. This latest launch further illustrates the need for such a framework. That is why we urge Council Members to redouble their efforts towards finding a common path forward in these discussions.
Over the past two years, we have seen the DPRK make significant military advances. We have seen them add two new classes of ICBM to their arsenal, one of them solid-fueled, and test a new intermediate-range missile that overflew Japan last year. This successful launch of a spy satellite is the latest step in a long series of unconstrained advances.
This adds tension to a situation that should be tackled by negotiation based on good political will and good diplomacy.
That is why we are now more convinced than ever that we need a new approach to this file. We have reiterated that the Council must do more, but that doing “more” does not mean doing “more of the same”, as we keep doing here every time there is a new launch.
We see the need for three “C”s in this file: creativity, compromise, and collaboration. Creativity, to explore new approaches to this file, such as making better use of the Council’s Chapter VI toolkit. Compromise, because views are so far apart that we must begin to work on whatever we can agree, no matter how basic that may be. Finally, we need more collaboration at the expert level.
In the last two years, we were never as close to consensus as when all of our experts were meeting regularly to share ideas and work on text. More regular collaboration at the expert level can prevent these meetings from becoming reiterations of 15 distinct national well known views.
We have been encouraged by discussions we have had with Council Members who have shared our interest in finding new ways to make progress. We have talked with most of you about a greater role for the UN in promoting contacts with the DPRK and convincing this country to trust diplomacy and the good offices of its fellow UN members.
We intend to continue to take these ideas forward and we hope to have at least rekindled the discussion on new ideas for achieving a Korean Peninsula that is peaceful, stable and free of nuclear weapons.
Thank you.