열린장관실

OSCE 정상회의 발언문

2010.12.2(목) 10:00
카자흐스탄 아스타나

  Mr. Chairman,

  I would like to first extend my heartfelt appreciation to Kazakhstan for its excellent chairmanship and the warm hospitality.

  Taking this opportunity, I would like to pay tribute to the Kazakhstan government for its efforts to strengthen coordination among OSCE participating states and to deepen the organization's relations with the Partners for Co-operation.

I also appreciate the chair's efforts to provide greater impetus to the activities of the OSCE.

  Mr. Chairman,

  Being held eleven years after the 1999 Istanbul Summit, this meeting serves as a timely opportunity for OSCE participating states to address newly emerging threats and challenges in the new security environment of the 21st century.

  I hope that OSCE participating states can reaffirm their valued principles and commitments.

I also look forward to the OSCE participants garnering the necessary political will to foster an effective and comprehensive security community that brings together the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions. 

  In particular, I hope that concrete results emerging from the Corfu Process initiated last year will enable the OSCE to transform itself into a body for more substantial security cooperation.

  Mr. Chairman,

  Since 1994 when the Republic of Korea joined this community as a Partner for Cooperation, Korea has steadily enhanced mutual understanding and cooperation between Northeast Asia and Europe through various gatherings with the OSCE such as the OSCE-Korea Conferences. 

  Korea has contributed to the OSCE Partnership Fund, and participated in OSCE-led stabilization efforts in Afghanistan by dispatching ODIHR (오디르) election support teams and assisting Tajikistan's border patrol programs.

  As a Partner for Co-operation, Korea will continue to actively participate in OSCE security cooperation dialogues, including the Corfu Process.

Futhermore, Korea hopes, in concert with the OSCE, to pursue ways in which comprehensive security can be strengthened in Northeast Asia.

I would ask for your continued interest and cooperation in this regard.

  Mr. Chairman,

  I would also like to take this opportunity to raise the issue of the recent artillery firing by North Korea on an island of the Republic of Korea.

On Tuesday, November 23, the North Korean military initiated an unprovoked attack on Yeonpyeong Island by firing artillery shells.

Four people were killed as a result of this heinous act, including two innocent civilians.

Many more were injured.

North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong is a blatant case of provocation against the Republic of Korea.

It constitutes an atrocious and illegal act, in clear violation of the United Nations Charter, the Armistice Agreement, and relevant agreements between the two Koreas. 

  Particularly appalling and unexcusable is the indiscriminate firing upon innocent civilians within residential areas, which caused the deaths of civilians and the destruction of scores of homes.

It is none other than an utterly despicable, cowardly and inhuman act.

  This egregious assault cannot be condoned and must not be permitted to stand.

The international community needs to condemn North Korea, and urge it in the strongest possible terms to refrain from such actions.

The ROK government anticipates that the OSCE, as the international agency addressing regional security matters, to take a firm and clear position regarding any aggressive actions by North Korea. 

  Furthermore, North Korea recently revealed its uranium enrichment facility, claiming that it is composed of 2,000 centrifuges.

Given that such a facility can be utilized to produce weapons grade HEU, Pyongyang's recent moves pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and stability and a grave challenge to the very foundation of the international non-proliferation regime. 

  My government has persistently pursued the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.

To this end, we are working closely with our Six-Party Talks partners to make substantive progress in denuclearization, urging North Korea to prove sincerity toward denuclearization through concrete actions before resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

Once the Six-Party Talks resume, we will pursue negotiations on all of North Korea's nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment program to reach a comprehensive and definitive resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

  Mr. Chairman,

  Through the hosting of this summit, I trust that the OSCE will become more capable of responding successfully to the security challenges of the 21st century.

The Korean Government strongly supports such efforts of the OSCE and looks forward to further deepening the bonds of cooperation with OSCE countries. 

  I would like to close by expressing my full support for next year's chair, Lithuania.

I am confident that the OSCE, under the wise and able leadership of Lithuania, will indeed continue to develop into an ever more effective and forward-looking organization.

  Thank you.  /End/