[Song Jong-hwan] North Korea must keep its promises

A famous Latin saying “Pacta sunt servanda,” meaning “agreements must be kept,” forms the basis of international law and international relations. Therefore, states that sign and ratify international agreements should be bound by them.

While concealing its nuclear program for decades, North Korea has signed agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (1985), South Korea (1992) and the U.S. (1994) not to pursue nuclear weapons. It also signed a joint statement to abandon nuclear weapons in 2005 at the six-party talks which also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.

However, North Korea tested what it claimed to be a hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range ballistic missile on Feb. 7. Both actions were not only in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, but also posed a grave danger to the East Asian region and the world.

In response to such violation of agreements, the UNSC on March 2 unanimously adopted Resolution 2270, the strongest ever sanctions against North Korea. The resolution requires every member country to inspect all cargo passing through their territory to or from North Korea, bans all weapons trade with North Korea, and expands the list of North Korean individuals and entities facing sanctions. Further, the resolution places a sectoral ban on North Korea’s exports of coal, gold and other minerals and adds new items to the list of luxury goods prohibited from being exported to North Korea.

Despite the imposition of the strongest sanctions, there are loopholes that North Korea may try to exploit. To prevent this from happening, it is essential to have strong international and regional cooperation from all countries, including China and Russia in particular.

A few hours after the resolution was passed, North Korea launched six short-range projectiles into the sea in defiance of the sanctions. In the following days, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said, “Nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time,” threatening to launch a preemptive attack against South Korea and the U.S.

In an effort to uphold the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the U.N. General Assembly has approved two major covenants on human rights: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which took effect in 1976.

Despite becoming a signatory to the covenants in 1981, North Korea has one of the worst human rights records. The UNGA and Human Rights Council have adopted resolutions on North Korean human rights every year since 2005 to express grave concerns. Since 2004, the U.N. special rapporteur has tried to carry out his mission regarding the country’s human rights situation but the North Korean regime has refused his entry. A Commission of Inquiry established by the HRC reported in 2014, “The North Korean government has committed systematic human rights abuses at a scale without parallel in the contemporary world.” The UNSC adopted the issue of North Korean human rights violations as an agenda item for the first time in 2014.

After signing multiple agreements aimed at curtailing its weapons of mass destruction program, North Korea tested nuclear devices and launched long-range missiles, repeatedly violating the agreements it had signed. Similarly, North Korea signed or ratified multiple human rights conventions and then denied human rights to its own citizens. Such behavior goes against the concept of “Pacta sunt servanda,” thus damaging its international standing and peaceful cooperation with other countries.

Now, a full implementation of U.N. sanctions enshrined in Resolution 2270 is essential for inducing North Korea to change its behavior. Strong regional and international cooperation is required from all countries, including Pakistan, to ensure that these sanctions have their intended effect.

It is my hope that the sanctions meet the objective of forcing the North Korean regime to change direction and become a responsible member of the international community. Only then will the situation on the Korean Peninsula improve. If we can achieve this, soon the two Koreas will be able to live in peace as brothers, and contribute to world peace and wellbeing.

Song Jong-hwan is South Korean ambassador to Pakistan. –Ed.