January 8, 2025
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, ASG Khiari for your briefing.
The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the DPRK’s January 6 launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile in direct violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.
This launch – as well as each of the over 100 ballistic missile launches it has carried out since the beginning of 2022 – is a flagrant violation of the UN Security Council’s resolutions. Each test informs the DPRK of its capability gaps and allows Pyongyang to further advance its weapons programs.
It is no mystery why the DPRK feels emboldened to carry out unlawful ballistic missile launches with impunity.
For the past two years Russia and China have muzzled this Council from acting. In March, Russia ended the mandate of the 1718 Committee Panel of Experts through its capricious use of the veto.
Russia and China also blocked a straightforward, factual press statement noting the DPRK’s October ICBM launch had violated multiple Security Council resolutions.
These actions coincide with Russia’s and the DPRK’s ongoing military cooperation in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which violates both the UN Charter and arms restrictions established by the Council.
Specifically, the two-way arms embargo on the DPRK laid out in Resolutions 1718, 1874, and 2270 prohibit all UN Member States from receiving arms, materiel, arms training, or assistance from – or providing them to – the DPRK.
Colleagues, since December 2023, the DPRK has transferred over 20,000 shipping containers of munitions to date, containing at least six million heavy artillery rounds and well over 100 ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.
These missiles have subsequently been launched into Ukraine, impacting civilian infrastructure and populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Russia has turned to the DPRK also now for manpower as well as munitions, to carry out its war of aggression, welcoming more than 12,000 DPRK troops onto its soil.
Since December of 2024, we have seen DPRK troops join in the fighting in Kursk, marking the first time they have participated in large-scale ground combat operations in more than seventy years, and the first time they have done so outside the Korean Peninsula. It is also the first time since the Second World War that Russia has invited a foreign force on its territory for a military operation.
In return for its support to Russia, Russia has transferred air defense systems to the DPRK.
We are particularly concerned about Moscow’s intent to share with Pyongyang satellite and space technologies, which are crucial to an army’s communication and intelligence gathering capabilities on the modern battlefield, as we have seen in Ukraine.
The DPRK is significantly benefitting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology, and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors. In turn, the DPRK will likely be eager to leverage these improvements to promote weapons sales and military training contracts globally.
Mr. President, while we condemn the DPRK’s actions, the United States remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the challenges posed by the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. We urge the DPRK to return to the negotiating table and engage in meaningful dialogue.
The United States looks forward to working with all members of the Security Council to address this critical issue. The Council must take seriously its responsibility to vigilantly monitor implementation of binding Security Council sanctions measures to counter the DPRK’s threats to international peace and security.
We must work together to press Russia and China to address the DPRK’s unlawful ballistic missile launches and malicious cyber activities that threaten us all.
We call on all Council members to support a united and clear denunciation of the DPRK’s destabilizing behavior, and for all UN Member States to fully and faithfully implement UNSCR obligations and work together to prevent the DPRK’s procurement activities and revenue flows supporting its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.
Colleagues, the United States is ready to work with the rest of the Security Council to expeditiously reinstate the 1718 Committee Panel of Experts that for fifteen years provided public reporting that benefitted all UN Member States.
Thank you.