Jeong Yeon-du, South Korea’s senior representative for North Korea nuclear diplomacy, reaffirmed the government’s goal of the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and stressed the urgency of resolving the North’s nuclear issue at a meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Foreign Ministry said.
In a keynote address on April 27 (local time) at the 11th NPT Review Conference in New York, Jeong, director-general of the ministry’s Foreign Strategy and Information Bureau, said North Korea is “the only case” to have benefited from the NPT system, then declared its withdrawal and openly continued developing nuclear weapons. He called it “the most urgent challenge” to the nonproliferation regime.
Jeong said all countries seeking to uphold the NPT must send a clear message that returning to the treaty is the only path that can guarantee security and prosperity. He also urged Russia to halt what he described as illegal military cooperation with North Korea.
The ministry said Jeong outlined Seoul’s plan to pursue a phased denuclearization process moving from suspension to reduction and then dismantlement.
Jeong said today’s unstable international security environment is undermining the NPT’s credibility and effectiveness, and proposed that nuclear-armed states engage in dialogue to increase transparency and build mutual trust.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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