International reactions to the 2009 North Korean nuclear test

Updated on Sep 25, 2024

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International reactions to the 2009 North Korean nuclear test condemned the test.

International organizations

Association of Southeast Asian Nations: the 10 ASEAN leaders and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak released a statement at the end of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit condemning North Korea's nuclear test and subsequent missile launches as "clear violations" of UN Security Council resolutions and the agreements reached at six-party nuclear disarmament talks. They said peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was essential to keep the regional peace and expressed full support for resumption of the stalled six-party talks. "North Korea's underground test is a serious threat to peace and security in Northeast Asia and beyond," Lee Myung-Bak said at the closing press conference, expressing "sincere gratitude" to ASEAN's leaders for their statement.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission: The Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO's International Monitoring System immediately detected the North Korean nuclear test with 38 of its seismic stations throughout the world. Within two hours of this detection, Member States received first information on time, location and magnitude of the event, and within ten hours, CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth and technical staff gave briefings to both representatives from member states as well as the press on the CTBTO findings. In a statement released on 25 May he said the test was “a serious violation of the norm established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and as such deserves universal condemnation.”

European Union: The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned the test. "These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community. The European Union will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures," he said in a written statement.

Holy See: In a statement released by its newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican has condemned the nuclear test and warned that acts of aggression such as this threaten "the very survival" of the country's own people by exacerbating its isolation.

NATO: "These irresponsible actions by Pyongyang pose a serious challenge to peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and are being universally condemned by the international community," NATO said in a statement. "We call upon Pyongyang to refrain from any other actions which could contribute to raising tensions and to restore dialogue within the Six-Party framework. The Alliance will continue to carefully monitor developments with deep concern."

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: OSCE chairwoman-in-Office and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis condemned North Korea's claimed nuclear test, identifying it as a threat to stability in the region. "I strongly condemn North Korea's declared nuclear test. I am deeply concerned by this threat to regional and global stability," Bakoyannis added in Athens. "Rather than enhancing its nuclear capabilities, North Korea should return immediately to the six-party talks and avoid any actions that would further heighten tensions."

United Nations: The Security Council unanimously condemned the test and was quoted as saying that "The members of the Security Council voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 25 May 2009, which constitutes a clear violation of resolution 1718" and that council members "have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter".

References

International reactions to the 2009 North Korean nuclear test Wikipedia

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