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Security Council holds emergency meeting to discuss DPR Korea’s nuclear test

12 February 2013 – The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss possible collective action after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced it had conducted its third nuclear test, an action condemned by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior officials.

“It is deplorable that Pyongyang defied the strong and unequivocal call from the international community to refrain from any further provocative measures,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the negative impact of this deeply destabilizing act on regional stability as well as the global efforts for nuclear non-proliferation,” said the statement, which called the test “a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.”

According to media reports citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Government of DPRK conducted its third, long-threatened nuclear test on Tuesday.

A test would be in violation of sanctions imposed on DPRK by the Security Council following nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, including a ban on the import of nuclear and missile technology.

The sanctions were further tightened last month in a unanimous decision by the Council after DPRK reportedly launched a long-range Unha-3 rocket from its west coast in December 2012.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) today confirmed that its monitoring stations picked up “evidence of an unusual seismic event” that has “explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests.”

CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Toth said in a statement that, if confirmed, the nuclear test would constitute “a clear threat to international peace and security.”

Adding his voice to the condemnations, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called the test “regrettable” and “in clear violation of the Security Council.”

In a statement, the Agency’s Director General, Yukiya Amano, urged DPRK to implement all relevant resolutions from the Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors, and reiterated the need to resume IAEA nuclear verification activities in the country as soon as a political agreement is reached.

Ahead of today’s Council meeting, Mr. Ban expressed his confidence that the 15-member body – whose presidency this month is held by the Republic of Korea – will remain united and take appropriate action.