UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE ON VETO OF THE UN 1718 COMMITTEE'S PANEL OF EXPERTS' MANDATE RENEWAL
11 April 2024
Statement by H.E. Mr James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
Mr President,
Thank you for convening this meeting - the veto initiative is an important mechanism for promoting transparency and accountability in the use of the veto.
Australia expresses our grave concern over Russia’s veto in this instance and reaffirms our support in the strongest terms for maintaining all elements of the sanctions regime against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The DPRK’s destabilising actions present one of the gravest threats to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region – and to the world at large.
Its deliberate and ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction undermine collective efforts to support regional and global security – and avert catastrophe.
The DPRK’s actions also violate numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
It is the Security Council’s duty under the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security. This must include enforcing its own resolutions.
Without this, the credibility and authority of the Council are undermined.
In this case, a Permanent Member of the Security Council has undermined the Council’s own sanctions regime – breaking 14 years of consensus on this issue.
Mr President,
The Panel of Experts is central to upholding the 1718 sanctions regime. Their reports provide transparency into a state which lacks verifiable information, and have helped all Member States to uphold their obligations.
But as we know, the Panel’s reports had started to expose Russia’s unlawful weapons transfers with the DPRK, to support its illegal war in Ukraine.
It is clear that this is the reason Russia has used the veto to silence the Panel’s independent, objective investigations into the DPRK’s blatant violations of UN Security Council resolutions.
In doing so, it condones the DPRK’s illegal pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, to the detriment of the global non-proliferation regime and to international peace and security.
This is not the behaviour of a responsible UN Member State, and we all have a responsibility to call it out.
We call on those who have influence over Russia to press it to consider the grave implications of its actions for international peace and security.
Mr President,
Australia remains committed to upholding all UN measures against the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
We call on the Security Council, as well as other Member States, to implement Council resolutions and work towards our shared goal for the DPRK to abandon all nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
Thank you.