Discorso pronunciato dall’Ambasciatore Sebastiano Cardi Rappresentante Permanente dell’Italia presso le Nazioni Unite, al meeting straordinario in Consiglio di Sicurezza su Non-Proliferazione/DPRK —
Italy condemns in the strongest terms the latest missile test conducted by the DPRK. The latest provocation confirms once again that the North Korean regime continues to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile technology in open defiance of the International Community and in flagrant violation of the Security Council’s successive resolutions.
The last launch having an intercontinental range is particularly worrisome; equally worrisome is the fact that DPRK claimed to have reached its objective of acquiring an intercontinental ballistic missile capacity. The advancement of missile and nuclear capabilities by the DPRK is undermining our collective security.
The DPRK’s destabilizing activities pose a clear, serious and growing threat to international security and the global non-proliferation regime. We call on the DPRK to take immediate steps to abandon its provocative, illegal and self-isolating policies, putting a verifiable and irreversible stop to its missile and nuclear programs.
This objective continues to require a concerted multilateral effort to maintain a high level of pressure by the International Community on the North Korean regime. In this context, Italy stands ready to work with all relevant stakeholders in order to devise additional and significant restrictive measures. In this endeavor maintaining the Security Council’s unity of purpose on this matter will be crucial.
We must also not forget that the civilian population of the DPRK continues to be highly vulnerable as a consequence of the regime’s policies. We must therefore ensure, as we did in the past, that new restrictive measures do not have any negative unintended consequences for the humanitarian situation in the country.
The ultimate objective of our pressure should continue to be a change of behavior by the DPRK framing a path towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the achievement of a peaceful and comprehensive solution region as a whole.
Full and effective implementation of relevant UNSC resolutions by the whole UN membership continues to be Italy’s main priority as Chair of the 1718 Committee. Maintaining an open channel of dialogue with member States, specifically through regional outreach meetings, is proving to be an effective way to engage the membership in a way that facilitates national efforts to enforce the sanctions regime. In this respect, I want to point out that the rate of submission of national implementation reports has steadily increased. As of today, the Committee has received 94 National Implementation Reports on resolution 2270 and 70 on resolution 2321. All National Reports under resolution 2321 were received in the last four months, showing a higher submission rate than under previous resolutions regarding the DPRK.
While encouraging, this is still not sufficient. Let me therefore make an urgent appeal to all Member States to continue to provide the necessary attention to this urgent matter
