DPRK UN Ambassador Kim Sung’s Keynote Address at the 78th United Nations General Assembly
Peace, prosperity, progress and development are the main purposes of the foundation of the United Nations and they remain an invariable desire of humankind as ever.
Thanks to the joint efforts of the international community, the global public health emergency is terminated. However, the world has yet to be freed from the socio-political instability incurred by the malignant pandemic crisis COVID-19.
This year, disaster-prone abnormal climate such as El Niño caused extreme high temperature, drought, destructive forest fire and heavy rains in many countries and regions around the world, resulting in enormous human and material losses. It once again reminds us of the fact that the climate change is a pressing common task to which we should no longer remain indifferent.
To make matters worse, some UN member states are instigating confrontation between camps and bloc-forming in pursuance of hegemony and self-profits. Because of their prejudiced behavior, conflict and bloodshed among nations, forces, ethnics and religious sects are continuing unabated in the international arena.
In order for humanity to successfully achieve the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda braving through all these crises and challenges, we should seek correct ways and means to solve the problems while defending multilateralism around the UN and promoting unity and cooperation among countries on the basis of the international law and fundamental principles governing the international relations.
This year, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) greeted its 75th founding anniversary.
Recollecting its 75-year history of the DPRK which has firmly safeguarded the dignity and sovereignty of the country and nation and has laid solid foundation for self-respect and prosperity even in the face of manifold trials and challenges, our people are firmly convinced of its thriving future to be more powerful.
Challenges and trials of various kinds faced by the world in recent years created innumerable hardships and difficulties for the DPRK as well.
But the government of the DPRK achieved encouraging, progressive and proud successes one after another in all sectors including economic construction and improvement of people’s living standards, overcoming the difficulties on its initiative by positive efforts.
As the malignant disease mutates into new variants with high transmission and immunity evasion and continue to threaten the existence and development of humankind, it controls and manages the anti-epidemic situation in a stable manner relying on scientific and transparent anti-epidemic policy and entire people’s strong unity of voluntary action.
It is also accelerating the building of the state anti-epidemic capacity to successfully counter any future health crisis in a proactive manner.
It has put considerable efforts into developing all sectors of the country in a simultaneous and balanced way. Thus, all sectors of economic construction are showing clear growth trend and the agricultural sector opened up a prospect for increased stable production even under the unfavorable weather conditions.
Providing the people with affluent and civilized living conditions is the supreme principle that governs the activities of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the DPRK government.
Their people-first policy has ensured that ordinary workers are distributed with numerous modern dwelling houses free of charge this year too as in the last year and all children in nurseries and kindergartens are regularly given dairy products on a daily basis at the state expense by the well-established orderly system.
The DPRK government has made dynamic efforts to cope with the ever-worsening climate change and disaster-prone abnormal weather conditions. As a result, protection and improvement of the country’s land and ecological environment are powerfully promoted on a nationwide scale, and the material and technical bases needed for building state resilience against disasters laid from the long-term perspective.
The achievement made in national economic development and improvement of the people’s livelihood even amidst harsh conditions is a precious fruition of patriotic and devoted efforts of the entire Korean people striving to bring earlier a happy future for themselves and for posterity by dint of self-reliance and self-development.
For the Korean people aspiring to a perfect and substantial attainment of the grand objectives for overall national prosperity, it is the first and foremost requirement for them today to defend security environment and development interest of the state.
However, the high-handed and arbitrary practices of some UN member states have created unhappy situation on the Korea peninsula this year that runs counter to the theme of the current session oriented towards “peace, prosperity and progress for all”.
Owing to the reckless and continued hysteria of nuclear showdown on the part of the U.S. and its following forces, the year 2023 has been recorded as an extremely dangerous year that the military security situation in and around the Korean peninsula was driven closer to the brink of a nuclear war.
From the beginning of the year, the U.S. and the “Republic of Korea” made hysterical remarks of confrontation such as “end of the regime” and “occupation of Pyongyang” in flagrant violation of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. They staged largest scale joint military exercises of clearly aggressive nature one after another on our doorstep including the “Freedom Shield”, “Ssangryong”, “Combined Joint Fire Annihilation Drill”, and “Ulchi Freedom Shield”.
After fabricating the so-called “Nuclear Consultative Group” in April committed to the planning, operation and execution of preemptive nuclear strike against the DPRK, the U.S. is now moving on to the practical stage of realizing its sinister intention to provoke a nuclear war by frequently dispatching strategic nuclear submarines and strategic nuclear bombers carrying nuclear weapons in and around the Korean peninsula for the first time in decades.
The formation of the tripartite military alliance among the U.S., Japan and the “ROK” has also put into practice its long-sought ambition for “Asian version of NATO”, thus introducing a “new cold war” structure to Northeast Asia.
The current dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula is attributable to the U.S. in its attempt to realize its ambition for hegemony by all means, overestimating its powers. But due responsibility also lies with the incumbent “ROK” ruling forces that try to impose the scourge of a nuclear war on the nation, obsessed with pro-U.S. submission and fratricidal confrontation.
Only a few days ago, at this very place, Yoon Suk Yeol unreasonably denounced our just and legitimate measures to enhance national defense capabilities and even went so far as to make provocative remarks about the normal development of cooperative relations among our friendly neighbors.
Development of equal and reciprocal relations between and among independent sovereign states is not an issue for the “ROK” to interfere in as it is no more than a colony of the U.S. Ever since the current puppet “government” came to power, the whole area of the “ROK” turned literally into a military colony of the U.S., powder keg of war and military outpost, due to its sycophantic and humiliating policy of depending on outside forces and the Korean peninsula is in a hair-trigger situation with imminent danger of nuclear war breakout.
The reckless acts of the U.S. and its following forces are exerting irreversibly destructive impact on the regional politico-military situation and security structure as they drive the situation of the Korean peninsula into actual armed conflict. Given the prevailing circumstances, the DPRK is urgently required to further accelerate the build-up of its self-defence capabilities to defend itself impregnably.
It is only too natural that the more the reckless military moves and provocations of the hostile forces are intensified threatening the sovereignty and security interests of our state, the more our endeavours to enhance national defence capabilities would increase in direct proportion.
The DPRK remains steadfast and unchanged in its determination to firmly defend the national sovereignty, security interests and well-being of the people against the hostile threatsrom outside.
The U.S. and its following forces should look back on the consequences of their hostilities committed so far tarnishing the image of our state and gravely infringing upon our security and fundamental interests, and make a right choice judging what the end result would be.
Comrade Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea said: We should not tolerate the imperialists’ moves for aggression and war against sovereign nations; instead, we should struggle to ward off the danger of war and defend global peace and security.
Now the U.S. is arbitrarily judging other countries by its unilateral hegemonic values and it is imposing inter-camp confrontation upon them, creating deep division and conflict among states.
As the U.S. is seeking politico-military collusion on an unprecedented scale for alleged cementing alliance and reviving and expanding worldwide such aggressive military bloc as NATO whose days are numbered, the world is now faced with the worst security crisis after the WWII.
No country or region in the world can be said to be secure, as long as there exist high-handed acts of dominationist forces posing a threat to other nations’ security, while scheming and inciting bloody confrontation, coup d’état and war in different parts of the planet, in pursuit of their hegemony and expansion.
The current reality urgently demands the UN to strictly adhere to the principles of impartiality and objectivity and to fulfill responsibly its mission and role enshrined in the UN Charter, in keeping with its mission to save the present and future of humanityrom the scourge of war and realize international justice.
The issue to be addressed before anything else in the UN activities is to ensure that the Security Council is not allowed to be used as an instrument of specific forces for pursuing their geopolitical purposes, but strictly observes the principles of objectivity, impartiality and equity, befitting its heavy responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security.
It was only a month ago when the UNSC disgracefully convened meetings to debate as separate agenda items the legitimate right to a satellite launch and “human rights issue” of the DPRK, a full-fledged UN member state.
It is nothing more than an insult to the spirit of the UN Charter and deliberate negligence of its mission that the UNSC put on the table the just and independent right of a sovereign state and groundlessly took issue with human rights situation of an individual country.
It has no relevance at all with its mandate of maintaining international peace and security. On the contrary, the UNSC has never expressed concern over the U.S. and its following forces’ nefarious nuclear war exercises against the DPRK and continued deployment of strategic assets, which clearly constitute threat to peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world.
In defiance of strong protests and criticism of the international community, Japan discharged nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean at long last, thus causing irrevocable damage to the safety of humanity and marine ecological environment. Nevertheless, the Security Council is keeping silence and furthermore, some permanent members do not even hesitate to resort to irresponsible act of instigating it.
The failure of the Security Council to carry out its inherent duty and responsibility of defending global peace and security has its root-cause in the unfair and double standards behavior of the U.S. and some UN member states obedient to it.
If the Security Council does not observe the principles of sovereign equality and respect for sovereignty enshrined in the UN Charter, it will never live up to its reputation as representing the general will of the UN member states and instead, will only earn a shameful name of the “inner room” of the U.S.
In order to prevent the high-handedness and arbitrariness of specific forces including the U.S. in the Security Council, it is essential to reform the West-led irrational structure of its membership and to this end, expand and strengthen the representation of developing countries which make up the absolute majority of United Nations.
The Security Council should also put an end to the acts of discrediting sovereign states, interfering in their domestic affairs and fomenting confrontation and division by tabling issues detrimental to its mission and mandate.
The delegation of the DPRK avails itself of this opportunity to extend full support to Cuba keeping up the banner of socialism invariably in the face of the heinous sanctions and blockade and subversive scheme by the U.S.
We also strongly reject and condemn the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, the decades-long economic genocide, and its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, and demand their immediate withdrawal.
At the same time, we call for immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all coercive and unjustifiable measures against Syria, Venezuela, Iran and other independent countries. We also express our invariable support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their righteous cause to regain their legitimate national rights including establishment of an independent state with East Quds as its capital.
Independence, peace and friendship are the foreign policy ideas consistently maintained by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The DPRK will, in the future, too, forge unity and cooperation with all countries and nations that aspire after independence and love justice while opposing and rejecting aggression, intervention, domination and subordination, regardless of differences in ideas and systems. We will also expand and develop diversified exchanges and cooperation with capitalist countries as well that respect our country and are friendly to us.
