1. At the 84th session of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Executive Council in The Hague, the Netherlands, on March 7, Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Choi Jong-moon delivered a keynote speech, in which he called on the international community to respond jointly to the recent use of a chemical weapon at an international airport in Malaysia.

° The OPCW Executive Council meeting, like the Geneva Conference on Disarmament (CD) on February 28 where Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se had delivered a similar keynote speech, served as an opportunity to urge the international community to continue addressing the issue regarding the use of the VX nerve agent, a chemical weapon banned by the international community.

2. Deputy Minister Choi stressed that the international community, including the member states of the OPCW, should respond actively to the recent use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia and the other issues threatening the foundation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). On that note, he called on the international community to pay attention and respond resolutely to the gravity of North Korea’s chemical weapons development, which has been overshadowed by its nuclear and missile programs.

° The Deputy Minister asked the OPCW Director-General and the UN Secretary-General to send to North Korea a joint letter urging it to join the CWC; and the OPCW Executive Council to adopt a decision condemning the use of the VX nerve agent and thereby send to North Korea a strong message that it will not accept the use of chemical weapons.

° He also suggested that once the Malaysian government releases its final investigation results, the OPCW Executive Council hold a special meeting to discuss follow-up measures, adding that the UN Security Council likewise needs to discuss the issue as the relevant developments call for it.

° The Deputy Minister expressed concern over the use of the VX nerve agent banned by the CWC at an international airport plied by countless passengers, calling it a grave incident endangering the lives of innocent people. He stressed that the countries concerned should cooperate with the Malaysian government, including by handing over the suspects to the Malaysian authorities, pursuant to “the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation,” which bans actions that endanger or can endanger the safety at international airports.

3. Out of the 30 countries whose delegates delivered keynote speeches at the OPCW Executive Council meeting, 21 member states of the Executive Council, including the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, Italy and Sweden, shared the ROK’s view and took issue with or condemned the use of the VX nerve agent, and urged North Korea and the other non-members of the CWC to join the CWC as soon as possible. The discussion of the VX issue at the OPCW is seen to have paved the way for international attention to and efforts to address the issue.

4. Ahead of the Executive Council meeting, Deputy Minister Choi met with delegates from such allies of the ROK as the US, Japan, Australia, the UK, Sweden and Italy, during which they drew a common understanding that relevant international organizations should discuss and deal actively with the use of such chemical weapons as the VX nerve agent, and that the international community should respond sternly to chemical weapons threats from North Korea.

° The Deputy Minister also met with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü, during which the Deputy Minister extended appreciation to the OPCW for its constructive role over the recent use of the VX nerve agent, including through its provision of technical assistance to the Malaysian government, and asked the OPCW to double efforts to make North Korea join the CWC as soon as possible.


* unofficial translation