The following is the statement issued regarding the North Korea nuke test:
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the media.
As you know, I returned last night from a very productive visit to Southeast Asia.
I will see you again next Wednesday for my traditional press conference before the new General Assembly beginning.
This morning, I want focus on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms the underground nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This is yet another brazen breach of the resolutions of the Security Council. For the fifth time in recent years, the DPRK alone has broken the international norm against nuclear tests. This unacceptable act endangers peace and security in the region and is another vivid reminder of the urgent need to strengthen the global nuclear test ban regime.
I reiterate the united call of the international community on the leadership of the DPRK to reverse its course and commit to a path of denuclearization. Rather than pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, the DPRK should be promoting the well-being of the country’s people.
I count on the Security Council to remain united and take appropriate action. We must urgently break this accelerating spiral of escalation.
We are monitoring and assessing developments related to the nuclear test in close coordination with the concerned international organizations, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, and with interested parties.
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FROM THE US MISSION TO THE UN: Remarks at a Security Council Stakeout Before UN Security Council Consultations on North Korea
Ambassador Samantha Power
Press release issued 9.9.16: http://usun.state.gov/remarks/7423
Good afternoon.
You have heard already from President Obama and from Secretary Kerry today. You’ve also heard from capitals around the world, including very importantly, the capitals closest to North Korea: Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing. You’ve likely heard from many of my Council colleagues – and hopefully, you’ll hear from the Council itself, speaking in one voice, soon.
Today, the world is completely united in condemnation of the DPRK’s fifth nuclear test. This test comes on the heels of China’s successful G-20 summit and President Obama’s productive meeting with President Xi.
This has, of course, become a pattern for the DPRK. Earlier in the year, days after the Chinese envoy to North Korea asked the DPRK to refrain from further provocative actions, the North Koreans tested a space missile on Chinese New Year. So, yet again, this test shows the DPRK’s complete disregard for international law; complete disregard for its own commitments under the September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks; complete disregard for those member states most likely to advocate on its behalf; and complete disregard for the resolutions of this Council – four of them in total. It also demonstrates thorough disregard for the people of DPRK and for the people of the region. Not only do North Korean citizens face severe food shortages because its government prioritizes nuclear weapons over their well-being, but each test also carries increased risk of the environmental consequences for the people of DPRK and the region.
Since the adoption of Resolution 2270 earlier this year, the DPRK has conducted 21 ballistic missile tests across a variety of platforms and ranges, including submarine-launched missiles. We’ve now seen them test a second nuclear weapon this year. This is more than brazen defiance. North Korea is seeking to perfect its nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles so they can hold the region and the world hostage under threat of nuclear strike.
The Council must use every tool at its disposal to change North Korea’s calculus. We know that divisions on the Council only embolden the DPRK to further provocations, so we must send a clear, united, and strong message that the international community will never accept a nuclear North Korea. The Council must take further, decisive action that forces North Korea to change its calculus.
As you heard from President Obama, the United States will work with the Council and our other Six-Party partners and the international community to vigorously implement existing measures imposed in the four previous resolutions. And we will take additional significant steps, including new sanctions, to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions.
So I’m on my way to consultations here. We’re going to consult very closely with other Council members, also with our colleagues and allies – in particular, Japan and South Korea, who, together with the United States, called for these emergency consultations – as we work together to ensure that the Council takes swift and credible action in response to this provocative violation of international law, and we look forward to getting this important process under way starting right now.
The White House: Statement by the President on North Korea's Nuclear Test
REF: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/09/statement-president-north-koreas-nuclear-test
The United States condemns North Korea's September 9 nuclear test in the strongest possible terms as a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability. North Korea stands out as the only country to have tested nuclear weapons this century. Today's test, North Korea's second this year, follows an unprecedented campaign of ballistic missile launches, which North Korea claims are intended to serve as delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons targeting the United States and our allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan. As Commander in Chief, I have a responsibility to safeguard the American people and ensure that the United States is leading the international community in responding to this threat and North Korea's other provocations with commensurate resolve and condemnation.
To be clear, the United States does not, and never will, accept North Korea as a nuclear state. Far from achieving its stated national security and economic development goals, North Korea's provocative and destabilizing actions have instead served to isolate and impoverish its people through its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities. Today's nuclear test, a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, makes clear North Korea's disregard for international norms and standards for behavior and demonstrates it has no interest in being a responsible member of the international community.
Last night I returned from the G-20 and East Asia Summit meetings in Asia, where my counterparts and I were united in our call for North Korea to return to the path of denuclearization. Upon hearing the news of the test, I had the opportunity to consult separately via phone with Republic of Korea (ROK) President Park Geun-Hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. We agreed to work with the UN Security Council, our other Six-Party partners, and the international community to vigorously implement existing measures imposed in previous resolutions, and to take additional significant steps, including new sanctions, to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions. I restated to President Park and Prime Minister Abe the unshakable U.S. commitment to take necessary steps to defend our allies in the region, including through our deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to the ROK, and the commitment to provide extended deterrence, guaranteed by the full spectrum of U.S. defense capabilities
Editorial Note: Let us not forget the religious fanatics of Iran with their hands on nukes, along with the paranoid basket case in North Korea. Which is worse? And another question will any of the current presidential candidates stand up to them if elected, and how?
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