1. At 9:00 a.m., February 12 (US Eastern Standard Time), the United Nations Security Council held a closed-door emergency meeting to discuss ways to respond to the nuclear test conducted by North Korea.

° On the heels of the nuclear test by North Korea, the Republic of Korea, in its capacity as the UN Security Council President for the month of February, convened an urgent meeting, and the ROK Ambassador to the UN Kim Sook presided over the meeting. Immediately after the nuclear test, members of the Council, including the US, the UK, France and Australia, as well as non-members, including Japan, requested that the ROK convene an urgent meeting.

2. In the meeting, the members of the Security Council strongly condemned the nuclear test as a grave violation of Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874 and 2087, and decided to promptly pursue firm action at the Security Council. After the meeting, the ROK’s Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan, who is on a visit to New York, announced a UN Security Council press statement in a press briefing.

3. By having promptly convened the emergency meeting and decided to work on response measures, the Security Council is thought to have demonstrated its intention never to tolerate nuclear development by North Korea.

4. On the sidelines of the Security Council meeting, Minister Kim had phone consultations with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida; and met in person with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic, and US and Russian Ambassadors to the UN Susan Rice and Vitality Churkin. On those occasions, Minister Kim and his counterparts consulted extensively on ways for the Security Council to respond to the latest nuclear test by North Korea.

* UN Security Council press statement attached.

                           Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation