

MEDIA RELEASE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ALEXANDER DOWNER

FA196

23 December 2002





NORTH KOREA’S REMOVAL OF IAEA MONITORING EQUIPMENT



I am deeply concerned that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has gone  ahead with its threat to cut seals and interfere with surveillance equipment installed by the  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.  The IAEA  has confirmed the DPRK’s action.

This latest development comes hard on the heels of the DPRK’s admission it has a Highly  Enriched Uranium program. It has also announced it will re-activate its nuclear facilities,  which were frozen under the 1994 US-DPRK Agreed Framework.

Operation of these facilities without the requisite safeguards in place would contravene the  DPRK’s obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the  DPRK’s safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

This threat to security on the Korean peninsula, and to the region, will not help the DPRK’s  efforts to establish normal cooperative relations with other members of the international  community.  The DPRK’s actions will be met by firm international resolve.

I strongly urge the DPRK to step back from the path it is taking, and to restore full  cooperation with the IAEA in applying the containment and surveillance measures.  I also call  upon the DPRK to abandon its nuclear-weapons program once and for all.

The DPRK must understand that Australia cannot take the bilateral relationship forward until  the nuclear question is resolved.

Media enquiries:  Chris Kenny (Ministerial) 0419 206 890      Lyndall Sachs (Departmental) 02 6261 1555











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