Embassies condemn N.K. test

Various diplomatic missions in Korea issued statements denouncing North Korea’s fourth nuclear test last Wednesday, indicating their resolve to step up sanctions.

Borrowing the U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s words, the British Embassy stated: “The nuclear detonation underlines the very real threat that North Korea represents to regional and international security, and is a grave breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

“We will be working with other UNSC members to ensure the international community responds urgently and decisively to this latest activity,” the embassy added.

The Turkish Embassy expressed “grave concerns” over the development, saying the testing constituted “a clear violation of the UNSC Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094.”

“As a country that actively supports international efforts against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” the Turkish mission said, “Turkey regards this test as an unacceptable threat to international peace and stability, and call upon North Korea to fastidiously abide by its international obligations.”

Condemning the act, the Mexican Embassy called on all states to refrain from nuclear testing and accede to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral accord adopted by the U.N. in 1996, by which states agreed to ban all nuclear explosions for military or civilian purposes.

“Mexico has always denounced the development and use of nuclear weapons, which endanger humanity by their very existence,” the embassy said. “Therefore we will continue to promote initiatives to abolish nuclear weapons in the U.N. General Assembly.”

Iranian Ambassador to Korea Hassan Taherian told The Korea Herald last week that his country opposed nuclear proliferation in all corners of the globe, including the Korean peninsula.

Stressing that “North Korea’s provocative actions will harm the region’s security,” Taherian highlighted that Iran’s nuclear deal reached on July 14, involving the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China, Germany and the European Union, had progressed “very smoothly.”

“The deal has passed our parliament and the agreed steps have been implemented thoroughly,” the ambassador said, adding that few steps remained in the final stage before inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and lifting of sanctions.

Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent, and reduce two-thirds of its gas centrifuges over the next 13 years.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)