December 18, 2024
Thank you, Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo and Mr. Leff, for your briefings.
In vetoing the mandate renewal of the 1718 Committee Panel of Experts, Russia sought to prevent crucial, objective investigations into DPRK’s violations of Security Council resolutions. To shield the world from the truth about the DPRK’s dangerous actions and Russia’s complicity in them.
The loss of this committee makes organizations like Conflict Armament Research all the more critical. And the United States is grateful that its independent, well-regarded experts continue to provide clear and credible reporting on DPRK-related violations.
These reports show why Russia was so desperate to overturn the mandate’s renewal: Russia and the DPRK are engaging in unlawful arms transfers and training, in brazen violation of numerous Council resolutions.
Colleagues, Resolutions 1718, 1874, and 2270, collectively, prohibit UN Member States from receiving any arms, related materiel, arms training, or assistance from the DPRK or providing them to the DPRK.
These resolutions were adopted in response to North Korea’s nuclear tests. They are evidence of our sacred obligation to uphold international peace and security.
Russia knows this. Russia voted for each and every one of these resolutions. And yet, Russia has violated them in both directions.
We assess North Korea has now sent Russia more than 20,000 shipping containers of munitions to date, containing at least 6 million heavy artillery rounds along with well over 100 ballistic missiles.
The Center for Armament Research’s independent findings corroborate what we have seen in press reporting and other open-source analysis.
These missiles have subsequently been launched into Ukraine, impacting near civilian infrastructure and populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. And the DPRK continued preparations to transfer more missiles to Russia in late 2024.
We also have information that a large number of DPRK-origin 170mm long-range self-propelled artillery pieces and 240mm long-range multiple rocket launchers are being introduced into the conflict.
And now Russia turns to the DPRK for manpower as well as munitions, in order to carry out its war of aggression against Ukraine, welcoming more than 11,000 DPRK troops onto its soil. And this is not from the press, this is from the DPRK. And not just any soldiers: North Korea sent elite special forces units to Russia.
This marks the first time North Korean troops have participated in large-scale ground combat operations in more than 70 years and the first time they have done so outside the Korean Peninsula.
And Russia is likely to use the deployment as a basis for future combined training exercises with the Korean People’s Army.
This is not a one-way street. The more Russia relies on the DPRK’s support, the more the DPRK extracts in return, exacerbating threats to peace and security not only in Europe, but across the globe.
In recent months, Russia has provided training to DPRK troops in artillery, UAV, and basic infantry operations, including trench-clearing, an indication DPRK soldiers are participating in frontline operations, and directly engaging in hostilities against Ukraine.
We also have information that Russia has transferred air defense systems to the DPRK.
The Kremlin continues to provide free and subsidized refined petroleum to the Kim Regime, above the UN-mandated 500,000-barrel cap, as well as sell dual-use technology and equipment.
What’s more, we are particularly concerned about Moscow’s intent to share satellite and space technologies with Pyongyang, which the war in Ukraine has plainly demonstrated is crucial to an army’s communication and intelligence gathering capability on the modern battlefield.
And it continues to shield the DPRK from joint actions in this Council, obstructing DPRK sanctions implementation, while attempting to escape reproach for its violations.
Alarmingly, we assess that Russia may be close to accepting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, reversing Moscow’s decades-long commitment to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
We believe that Moscow will become more reluctant not only to criticize Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons, but also further obstruct passage of sanctions or resolutions condemning North Korea’s destabilizing behavior – as we have already seen.
Colleagues, every single one of us must call out this recklessness. Every single one of us.
For far too long, China has provided political cover for Russia’s violations, emboldening the DPRK to continue its ballistic missile launches, among other dangerous, provocative behavior.
This is not the behavior of any responsible Member State, let alone two permanent members of the Council.
Responsible Council members take seriously their duty to counter threats to international peace and security. Responsible Council members uphold resolutions that curb proliferation, and remand recourse for human rights abuses. Responsible Council members have no reason to fear independent, objective experts. And responsible Council members do not enable tyrants for their own political gain.
Colleagues, just two years ago, I visited Ukraine. I saw up close the devastation and despair. The mother in Kyiv who had to hold her daughter’s lifeless hand after a Russian attack on her apartment building. The child who desperately wanted to return to school. The humanitarian aid worker who was detained and tortured by Russian forces, so traumatized, she could barely speak.
I will never forget the horrors unleashed by Putin. But I will also never forget the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
For years, they have defended their land, their freedom, their identity. And they have defended one another, too: taking in neighbors who lost their homes, risking their lives to feed those in need, nursing orphans back to health, showing the world that community is a form of resistance.
Today, they face new threats, dangerous threats. No veto can deny that harsh reality.
I know that the people of Ukraine will continue to stand up to oppression, to imperialism, to reckless proliferation.
But all of us must stand up with them.
And so, once again, the United States calls on Russia to cease military cooperation with the DPRK. To end this senseless war of aggression against Ukraine, and immediately withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory within its internationally recognized borders.
I also want to respond to China about engaging in dialogue with the DPRK. We have said repeatedly, we are open to unconditional dialogue with the DPRK. Each time we have reached out, it has responded with a clenched fist. And we would welcome further dialogue with the DPRK as I speak here today.
So finally, we have to continue to work to meet our responsibilities as members of this Council to uphold the Charter we have all sworn to protect.
The people of Ukraine demand this of us, they deserve it from us, they deserve a just and lasting peace. So, let us all do our part to help them realize that.
Thank you very much.
###
I shall now make a further statement in my capacity as the Representative of the United States.
I’m not going to respond directly, because the issues that are on the floor now, at hand, is whether China has been giving support to Russia’s efforts and protecting the DPRK. And we have seen that over and over in this Council. So, I leave where I started in my statement. I think that statement stands for what I said.
So, I thank you very much.