Deputy Secretary General Gottemoeller,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Representatives,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the NATO Allies and the Secretariat for holding this important meeting.

On a personal note, I am especially gratified to be back in Brussels after having served as Ambassador here until last month. Since I did not have the chance to bid farewell to my colleagues due to my sudden departure, this is particularly meaningful for me. During my term, I had the honor of witnessing the growing commitment on both sides to deepen Korea-NATO partnership, one of the standing priorities of my government.

In this sense, I am pleased with the ever-growing Korea-NATO partnership since its launch a decade ago. The partnership has been more than pulling its own weight as we work together to tackle our mutual challenges and threats. At the same time, we are exploring innovative ways to collaborate to counter emerging threats, among others, terrorism and cyber security.

Our partnership proved its strength on the ground. Korea has been a proud partner to NATO in contributing to the consolidation of peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. Korea actively took part in the NATO-led ISAF and contributed 500 million U.S. dollars from 2011 to date in support of the security and socio-economic development of Afghanistan. Furthermore, my government pledged an additional 255 million U.S. dollars at the Warsaw Summit and Brussels Afghanistan Conference this year.

Likewise, NATO has indeed been a strong and reliable partner for Korea in countering North Korea’s rapidly growing nuclear and missile threats. NATO expressed its strong collective will in a series of statements condemning North Korea’s provocations and calling for its complete compliance of the international obligations. We are greatly encouraged that the Leaders of NATO member countries renewed their strong consistent message in the Warsaw Summit Communique in this regard.

I would like to reiterate the appreciation of my Minister who addressed this Council in October for the strong show of support from the Council in resolving the North Korea nuclear crisis. I am privileged to follow-up and build on our collective efforts to stem the global security threat of a nuclear North Korea.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Representatives,

Building on the earlier deliberations of NAC attended by Minister Yun, I would like to share with you the latest developments in the North Korean nuclear issue. And I will talk about how we can better formulate our collective response.

The North Korean nuclear issue strikes at the very core of global non-proliferation regime and has grave security implications for NATO. Resolving the North Korean nuclear problem is essential, which has been one of the foremost objectives of the international community and NATO.

What is alarming is that North Korea is advancing its capabilities at a much faster pace than anyone has expected.

Since October, North Korea has conducted two additional ballistic missile launches and publicly threatened to take forceful countermeasures in anticipation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2321. Kim Jung Un gave orders to “wipe out South Korea” and attended a large-scale simulation of a military attack on the Presidential office of the ROK, the Blue House. By showing off its destructive operation deliberately targeting the head of state, the level of North Korea’s provocation against the Republic of Korea is unprecedented.

An extraordinary approach is necessary against an extraordinary regime that is madly obsessed with the development of WMD with complete disregard for the welfare of its people. This is also a lesson learned by the international community from over 20 years of experience in North Korea’s deception and broken promises.

In carrying out such extraordinary measures, the role of NATO member countries could not be more important. Indeed, North Korea has shown extreme uneasiness toward the measures taken by European countries.

In particular, North Korea reacted violently when the EU designated North Korea as a high-risk money laundering and terrorist financing state in July this year and when the ROK-US-UK air force conducted a combined exercise “Invincible Shield” in November.

The ROK hopes NATO members and partner countries will play a key role in the following three aspects.

First, we need to combine a seamless implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2321 with additional autonomous sanctions.

From March through November, we estimate that North Korea suffered a loss of approximately 200 million US dollars due to factors such as the closing of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, deterioration of its trade balance, limitations on maritime activities, and reduced employment of overseas North Korean workers.

To give you an idea of the impact of UN Security Council Resolution 2321, its most notable feature is the binding cap on North Korea’s coal export, which is expected to cut North Korea’s revenue from coal by approximately 700 million US dollars, or more than 60%, per year compared to 2015. It also bans North Korea’s export of four additional metals and statues which previously provided approximately 100 million plus US dollars to the regime annually. North Korea’s overall loss of hard currency under Resolution 2321 is projected at more than 800 million dollars per annum.

With the Security Council sanctions resolution taking full effect, along with new autonomous measures, North Korea will be more likely to change its calculus and rethink its nuclear ambitions.

In this vein, Korea, the US, and Japan coordinated their efforts in amplifying the effects of the new resolution by synchronizing announcement of new individual sanctions against North Korea at the same time early this month.

The ROK and the US added North Korean agencies responsible for exporting coal and sending North Korean workers overseas to their respective sanctions list. Also, ROK, US and Japan designated a Chinese firm and individuals that had transactions with the entities on the UN sanctions list. These measures complement and further reinforce the effectiveness of resolution 2321.

Australia has also announced its autonomous measures, and we are also closely working with the EU and other nations in devising rigorous sanctions against North Korea.

We hope that NATO, of which 22 members are also members of the EU, could redouble its effort in support of decisive EU autonomous measures.

Second, we need to take a holistic approach to further isolate and increase pressure on North Korea.

The North Korean nuclear conundrum cannot be separated from a number of North Korean problems such as human rights, overseas slave labor and an information black-out. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the new Resolution 2321 includes the possible suspension of the exercise of its rights and privileges of UN membership, and emphasizes the problem of human rights violations of North Korean overseas workers in the operative paragraph for the first time.

Over seventy countries and international organizations have delayed or halted the exchange of high-level officials, opening of diplomatic missions, and other projects with North Korea. Poland, Malta and other countries have stopped issuing visas to North Korean workers this year.

In the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly Third Committee in November, issues such as North Korean overseas workers and the responsibility of its leadership were included for the first time. The UN Security Council has taken up North Korean human rights issues on its agenda for three consecutive years and has discussed the nexus between human rights violations and its nuclear weapons and missiles development.

North Korea is in a perpetual state of flagrant violation of numerous international laws across many areas. We hope that as guardians of international norms, the European countries will lead the robust action of the international community to ensure North Korea respects its international obligations.

Lastly, ROK hopes that Korea and NATO will make concrete progress on the suggestion made by Minister Yun with regard to the sharing of practices in optimizing extended deterrence mechanisms against nuclear threats.

The ROK and the US will convene a consultation meeting next week to discuss ways to improve deterrence mechanisms that can supplement our existing sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

On the basis of our close partnership, I hope that ROK and NATO can share best practices in furthering our respective deterrence mechanisms.

Excellencies,

At the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting last week, NATO discussed a host of issues ranging from strengthening NATO-EU cooperation, defeating ISIL, and support to Ukraine. The world we live in is never short of problems in need of solutions.

Despite the many challenges and tasks the NATO faces, I sincerely thank NATO for its significant interest in helping resolve the North Korean nuclear conundrum.

I hope we can continue to have periodic opportunities to discuss the North Korean problem.

I would like to conclude by expressing my special thanks to Deputy Secretary General Gottemoeller. With a wealth of experience as an exceptional negotiator on non-proliferation issues, I know we are in good hands. I am confident that under her leadership, NATO will not only successfully address Europe’s urgent and challenging issues, but also make more contribution in resolving North Korean nuclear problem.

Thank you very much.