Thread: North Korea takes over UN body for disarmament

North Korea takes over UN body for disarmament
Steven Edwards
Jun. 30, 2011

UNITED NATIONS . Renegade nuclear-armed North Korea has taken over as head of a key UN disarmament body, despite facing Security Council sanctions over its weapons programs.

The development comes the same week the UN defended its decision to support Iran's holding an international "anti-terrorism" conference, at which participants described Western powers as international terrorists.

UN officials say So Sepyong, the North Korean ambassador, becomes president of the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament (CD) as a result of rules that rotate the position among its 65 member states in alphabetical order.

But critics said Wednesday the rules should be changed when they allow the CD -whose mandate is in part to push for world nuclear disarmament -to be led by a country the West considers an international nuclear pariah.

"No system should tolerate such a fundamental conflict of interests," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch, which also led protests against the UN's input at the Iranian conference.

"It's common sense that a disarmament body should not be headed by the world's archvillain on illegal weapons and nuclear proliferation, notorious for exporting missiles and nuclear know-how to fellow rogue regimes around the globe."

Once a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, North Korea pulled out in 2003 after violating it. In 2006, it conducted its first nuclear bomb test and is believed to have stockpiled up to eight nuclear warheads.

Mr. So said Tuesday he was "very engaged in moving the conference forward" and would use his four weeks as president to seek "constructive proposals" that would strengthen the CD's "work and ... credibility."

"That might make sense, if by 'forward' he means toward a nuclear winter, or by 'constructive,' he means steering clear of anything that might impede North Korea," said Anne Bayefsky, head of the New York-based monitoring group, Eye on the UN.

One of the most vocal countries at the group's meetings is Iran, which William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, said Wednesday had just carried out secret tests of ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions.

Mohammad Hassan Daryaei, Iran's ambassador to the CD, pledged his country's "full support and cooperation" with North Korea as he congratulated the new president.

Marius Grinius, the Canadian envoy, also welcomed North Korea's succession, but added Ottawa, along with other Western powers, believes the body has been marginalized for years. It was "not negotiating anything," and had "not been for a very long time."

While the UN bills the conference as the "single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community," others exist -to the point Mr. Grinius said the CD's inertia may seal its fate.

It was on "life support," he said, and "fast approaching a historic tipping point."

nationalpost.com

Farce.

Originally Posted by Neo

Farce.

Any matter that involves the U.N. usually is.

can see a lot of progress in this area

You can't say they haven't got a sense of humour

good news actually, will enrage the Americans

I do not see anything wrong with this.

North Korea is no where near the biggest exporter of arms to countries with poor human rights records.

Originally Posted by Mordechai

North Korea is no where near the biggest exporter of arms to countries with poor human rights records.

WTF has that got to with anything?

As far as NK is concerned they set their own records when it comes to human rights abuses.

^ typical seppo logic

Originally Posted by Mordechai

I do not see anything wrong with this.

North Korea is no where near the biggest exporter of arms to countries with poor human rights records.

Indeed. Those who talk the loudest.

it's so daft
it's unbelievable.