Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

The Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) strongly condemns North Korea’s nuclear test conducted on 6 January 2016.

The nuclear test by North Korea is a clear violation of relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) as well as the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and represents a grave challenge to the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime centered on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

This test is another reminder of the urgency of further strengthening the international framework for disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, including the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the effective implementation of the NPT as the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

This nuclear test seriously undermines the peace and security of Northeast Asia as well as the international community, particularly given North Korea’s efforts to enhance its ballistic missile capability which could serve as a means to deliver weapons of mass destruction.

As the NPDI has repeatedly done in previous occasions, we strongly urge North Korea to refrain from conducting further provocative actions including, among others, nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches. The NPDI also urges North Korea to fully comply with its obligations under UNSCRs and the commitments under the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks, to return to compliance with its IAEA safeguards agreement and the NPT, to abandon all nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and to cease all nuclear activities immediately.