Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

The 25th Annual Regular Meeting of the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC) was held in Vienna on May 28th and 29th, 2026 (Press Release (PDF) ).

At the meeting, Japan expressed serious concern over North Korea’s ballistic missile development, noted that Russia’s use of North Korea’s ballistic missiles against Ukraine has caused significant damage, and pointed out that arms transfers between North Korea and Russia is a serious challenge to the international non-proliferation regime. Japan also emphasized the importance of the universalization of the HCOC and the strengthening of its implementation by Subscribing States including from the perspective of peaceful uses of the outer space, which has been expanding in recent years.