YouSaid · the spoken record

Pak Kil Yon

lines on the record: 85
first: 2008-09-24
most recent: 2012-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Military invasions of sovereign States, arms build-ups and threats of use of force continue 10-55396 28 unchecked and, what is more, a series of pretexts are used to justify them. Despicable trickery and attempts to overthrow other countries’ socio-political systems have become ever more rampant. The banner of human rights protection and the institutional mechanism of the United Nations General Assembly are abused to that end. To deny the right of other countries to choose their own systems constitutes in itself a violation of the human rights of their people. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is one of those victimized countries.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“The most important meaning of the founding of the United Nations is the establishment of the principle of sovereign equality in international relations, which has enabled all States on this planet, large and small, to join their efforts for peace and development. The history of the United Nations, spanning 65 years, is the history of continued challenges to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. The logic and politics of power, which seek to negate sovereign equality, still remain in sight in international relations, even today after the turn of the century. International law and order are trampled on by the arbitrariness and high-handedness of individual Powers.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Mr. President, on behalf of the delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, I would like, first of all, to congratulate you on your election to the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. In the same vein, I believe that your able leadership will bring success to this session. This year marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The founding of the United Nations laid down an international legal basis for preventing the recurrence of catastrophes, such as the two World Wars that inflicted immeasurable sufferings on humankind, for safeguarding world peace and security and for achieving socio-economic progress.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will actively strive to further strengthen and develop friendly and cooperative relations with all United Nations Member States under those principles, and to fully discharge its commitment towards defending the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Due attention should also be given to how to boost the role of the non-aligned and other developing countries in the international arena. International efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals and to address the central issues of the United Nations, such as the global economic crisis and climate change, urgently call for the active participation of a wide range of developing countries, including the Non-Aligned Movement. The foreign policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been, is and will be based on the principles of independence, peace and friendship.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The United Nations Charter recognizes the rights of national self-determination and choice and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, and all international human rights instruments contain the basic principle of the non-politicization of human rights. However, these days some debates in the United Nations contradict that. Any attempt to bring into question the systems of specific countries and to interfere in their internal affairs under the guise of the protection of human rights is, in itself, a violation of human rights, denying the right of the people of those countries to choose their own system. The United Nations should pay attention to the fact that its human rights agenda covers only the situations found in small countries, with no mention of large ones, the West and European countries.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In restructuring the Security Council, we should first consider the issues that can be resolved, such as the expansion of non-permanent members of the Security Council on the principle of ensuring the full representation of non-aligned and other developing countries, which make up the majority of the United Nations Member States. In enhancing the authority of the General Assembly, we need to discuss the issue of submitting decisions of the Security Council to the General Assembly for approval, in particular all decisions relating to the principle of sovereign equality laid down in the United Nations Charter. The United Nations is required to have the proper criteria and principles in order to examine human rights issues.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“An imbalance in relations, by which the strong nations have ruled the weaker ones for the past half century, remains part of the structure of the Security Council, and it is precisely in the rules of procedure of that Council that democracy is least developed. Today, the General Assembly is the only place in the United Nations where the views of the international community can be properly reflected and democracy ensured. In order to strengthen the role of the United Nations in line with the requirement of the times and the new situation, it is important to thoroughly democratize the Security Council and to substantially increase the authority of the General Assembly.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“However, our sincere and noble efforts paved the way for a turning point so as to reach a common understanding of those grand programmes for reunification. Inter-Korean economic cooperation, including the operation of the Kaesong industrial complex, is back on track and separated families can be reunited. In the future, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will also continue to make all possible efforts to achieve national reconciliation and unity and to bring forward the independent and peaceful reunification of the country under the banner of “by our nation itself”. All Member States have accepted the need for United Nations reform, as the new century requires. Currently, the Security Council is the most anachronistic organ of the United Nations.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The position of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is to respond to dialogue with dialogue and to sanctions by strengthening nuclear deterrence. If the United States brings sanctions to the talks, we will, for our part, 09-52604 50 participate in such talks by bolstering our nuclear deterrence. Thanks to the far-sighted bold decision of the great General Kim Jong Il, North-South relations on the Korean peninsula have entered a new phase. Just over a year ago, the North and the South had to adapt to changes owing to the differences in the positions of the two parties towards the historic joint declaration of 15 June and the declaration of 4 October, which were recognized and supported by the General Assembly.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It may be recalled that the United Nations was set up in the country that produced the first nuclear weapon and that all five permanent members of the Security Council are nuclear Powers. If those countries had demonstrated their commitment to nuclear disarmament a long time ago and had refrained from arbitrarily and selectively opposing the peaceful satellite launch of another country, the nuclear situation in the world might have developed differently. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea attaches importance to the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The principle of sovereign equality is also the reason why we became a Member of the United Nations. Unjust and selective sanctions will never be recognized or accepted.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We will only possess a nuclear deterrent so as to avert a military attack or the threat of such an attack against our country. Deterrence will be directly proportional to the threat on the Korean peninsula, as in Europe and elsewhere. As long as it possesses nuclear weapons, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will act responsibly with regard to their management, use and non-proliferation, and to nuclear disarmament. We share the position of all peaceful countries, including the non-aligned countries, in opposing nuclear war, the nuclear arms race and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. United Nations sanctions have now been imposed on us on the grounds that we had a nuclear deterrent.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Security Council is being manipulated by that arbitrariness. We have concluded that, as long as the United States does not change its existing nuclear policy, we have no option but to rely on our nuclear capability in order to ensure the nuclear balance in the region and preserve peace and stability in North-East Asia. The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula depends on whether or not the United States changes its nuclear policy towards Korea. In order to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the United States Administration must discard its long-standing policy of confrontation and put into practice the change that it has recently talked about on several occasions. We are not engaged in a nuclear arms race. The purpose of our nuclear weapon is to deter war.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We initiated the denuclearization of North-East Asia and of the Korean peninsula and put forward the proposals for the Armistice Agreement to be replaced by a peace agreement and for the adoption of a non-aggression pact between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States. However, our efforts have not received an appropriate response from the United States. The United States considers the Korean issue only in the light of its Asia strategy and does not want to see the entire Korean peninsula denuclearized. That has resulted in a greater nuclear threat facing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The arbitrariness of the United States can be seen in the claim that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not allowed to launch even a peaceful satellite.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Our efforts to build up the economy will constitute a significant part of the international community’s efforts to attain the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. We have never opposed the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world. Denuclearization was the wish of President Kim Il Sung, and a nuclear-free world is a long-cherished desire of mankind. The Korean people are more devoted to the sovereignty and peace of their country than any other people or nation in the world, as a result of the characteristics of their country’s historical development. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has done its utmost to bring about the peaceful reunification of the country, to eliminate nuclear threats and grounds for war and to secure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Korean peninsula remains as ever in a state of armistice. But now that we possess a dependable 49 09-52604 nuclear deterrent, we may be able to prevent war and defend peace. For more than half a century our country was compelled to produce guns rather than butter, as we suffered under nuclear threats and the danger of war posed by hostile forces. But today we have settled down to channel our efforts into building a great, prosperous and powerful nation. To all intents and purposes, this is completely the result of the Songun- based politics instituted by the great General Kim Jong Il. And, when our country becomes an economic power, that will create new impetus to the economic development of the region.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, under the leadership of the great General Kim Jong Il, has now entered a phase of State-building. A great, prosperous and powerful nation is a country in which national power is strong and everything thrives and whose people live happily, with nothing to envy in the world. To build such a country was the lifelong wish of the great leader of our people President Kim Il Sung, and it is the firm intention and wish of the Government and people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that such a thriving nation will be a reality by 2012, the centenary of Kim Il Sung’s birth. The main task facing us over the next three years is to concentrate all our efforts on building an economic power, which is the last height we need to scale in building a great, prosperous and powerful nation.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Afghan war is in escalation and the Iraq war is still undecided. The cold wind of a nuclear arms race is blowing, even before negotiations on nuclear disarmament have been opened. Avian influenza is not completely subdued, yet a new strain of H1N1 flu is sweeping the world. The world is undergoing a much greater degree of global warming this year than last, and we are witnessing more stagnant economies and many more people out of work everywhere. The United Nations Security Council has become more arrogant, resulting in further inequality and double standards in international relations. We need to direct serious attention to this prevailing reality when we review the first decade of the new century.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“On behalf of the delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, I would like to congratulate Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. At the same time, I wish to express my hope that his skilful stewardship will lead the current session to success. The sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly will mark an end to the first decade of a new century, which humankind has ushered in with a great deal of anticipation and aspiration. One of the major tasks facing the Assembly this year is to conduct an impartial review of this first decade and set the correct path ahead. Humankind has yet to realize its long-cherished desire to thrive in a peaceful and equitable world free from war, while its hopes are confronted with a host of serious challenges one after the other.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will continue to seek national reconciliation and unity by fully implementing the 15 June joint declaration and the 4 October declaration, launching a new era of independent reunification, peace and prosperity and doing its utmost to ensure durable peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Those declarations enjoy the unanimous support not only of the entire Korean people, but also of the international community as a whole, as they are most comprehensive and realistic in their content and include all previous inter-Korean agreements, including the joint statement of 4 July 1972, which clarifies the three principles of independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity. It is intolerable that the declarations agreed upon and adopted at the highest level in the North and the South and supported unanimously by the international community are now being disregarded simply because of the changed regime in South Korea.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Resolutions were adopted by consensus at previous General Assembly sessions supporting the historic North-South summits held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007 and the 15 June 2000 joint declaration and the 4 October 2007 declaration resulting from them. As stipulated in those resolutions, the 15 June joint declaration and programme of action and the 4 October declaration constitute major milestones that could shorten the process of improving inter-Korean relations and achieving independent national reunification in the new century, as well as a grand programme for Korean reunification that clearly reflects the demands of the times and the aspirations of the nation.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“If the six parties are not true to their word in carrying out their respective obligations because of their great lack of trust in one another, no progress will be made at all. That is a lesson drawn from the process of previous Six-Party Talks. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will continue to make every sincere effort to achieve the denuclearization of the entire Korean peninsula, but we will not be indifferent to an attempt to offend our dignity and self-respect and to violate our sovereignty. As members are well aware, inter-Korean relations have been worsening ever since the installation of the new regime in South Korea, which rejects the North-South joint declaration of 15 June 2000 and the declaration of 4 October 2007.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“As far as verification is concerned, it is a commitment to be fulfilled by the six parties during the final phase of the denuclearization of the entire Korean peninsula, in accordance with the 19 September Joint Statement. The United States insistence on unilateral inspection of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a brigand-like demand to unilaterally disarm the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the other warring party, by discarding its commitment to the 39 08-53129 denuclearization of the entire Korean peninsula, the core of which is the removal of the United States nuclear threat, in accordance with the 19 September Joint Statement. Now that the United States has broken the agreement, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is inevitably taking relevant countermeasures based on the principle of action for action.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The international standard asserted by the United States is nothing but the special inspection that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for in the 1990s to infringe upon the sovereignty of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, causing it ultimately to pull out of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The United States has now put on hold the implementation of the procedure for de-listing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a State sponsor of terrorism under the pretext of verification, even after having officially declared that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not a State sponsor of terrorism. That is little short of admitting that the list is not actually related to terrorism.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Nuclear facilities were disabled at the final stage, a nuclear declaration was submitted and those measures envisaged for the destruction phase were even implemented in advance. That notwithstanding, the United States has laid an artificial obstacle to implementing the 3 October agreement by refusing to implement its obligations and put forward such an unjust demand as verification of an international standard never agreed on among the six parties or between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The adoption of the North-South Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in 1992 and of the Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1994 are a demonstration of the firm political will of our Government to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. Thanks to our sincere endeavours, several rounds of the Six-Party Talks have been held to date, enabling the adoption of the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005, followed by the agreements on and implementation of phased actions aimed at resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea honoured its commitments to the agreements of the Six-Party Talks in good faith.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“If the powerful deterrent to war secured by the Songun policy of the respected General Kim Jong Il had not existed, the Korean peninsula would have already suffered catastrophes several times over, which would certainly have led to the complete disruption of regional peace and stability as a whole. The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is the lifetime instruction of President Kim Il Sung, the great leader of our people, and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains consistent in its position of resolving the nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue and negotiations.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Double-faced approaches, such as talking about dialogue and resorting to war exercises against a dialogue partner behind the scenes, are a clear indication of the persistently hostile policy of the United States against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the confrontational policy of the present South Korean regime. In the face of such military threats and danger of war, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been strengthening in every possible way its self- defence capability in order to safeguard its national sovereignty and peace. That choice and right of ours is just and legitimate and cannot be subject to criticism and blame by others.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Even now, a series of reckless military manoeuvres destabilizing the region, including through the strengthening of strategic military alliances, massive shipments of state-of-the-art war equipment and annual large-scale military exercises, are being conducted in and around the Korean peninsula. The Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercise, staged by the United States and the Republic of Korea this past August, under the pretext of what they called “Preparation for an emergency on the Korean peninsula”, was nothing more than a war drill, for all intents and purposes mounting a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The main reason that the question of relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan has been unresolved for over half a century lies in Japan’s failure to liquidate its past, which is stained with large-scale crimes. Japan is the only war criminal State that whitewashes the history of aggression and massacre of millions of innocent people in Korea and other Asian countries and today attempts to grab the sacred Tok Islet of Korea. Such a country 08-53129 38 should never be permitted to become a permanent member of the Security Council. No one aspires to peace more than the Korean people, who suffered under Japanese military occupation for almost half a century and since have been in confrontation with the United States for over 60 years.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Aggression and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States and acts committed under the cover of human rights protection should be completely rejected. Today, the worst peace-breaker and human rights violator in the world is none other than the United States, as evidenced by its armed invasion of sovereign countries and its unhesitating massacre of innocent civilians. Human rights are sovereign and independent rights. We urge Member States to remain vigilant in the face of the constant clamouring by the United States and other Western countries on the subject of human rights protection and not to accept the politicization of, or selectivity and double standards in human rights.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Today’s realities require all Member States to pool their efforts for the building of a just, peaceful and prosperous world as a matter of priority, as they pledged in the Millennium Declaration. The building of a new world, free and peaceful, without domination, subjugation, aggression or war is a common aspiration of the world’s peoples and is now the shared responsibility of humankind. Ongoing efforts to reform the United Nations and enhance its role should be directed towards that end. It is also imperative to hold in check the attempts of some individual countries to address critical international issues related to world peace and security solely with a view to their own interests. For that purpose, there is a need to decisively enhance the authority of the General Assembly, in which all Member States exercise their equal rights.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The military alliances in place throughout the cold war era are being further intensified, and arms races in new forms are taking place in the Asia-Pacific, European and other regions. Attempts to justify violations of the sovereignty of developing countries under the pretext of human rights, non-proliferation and the war on terror go ever-more undisguised. Disparities in wealth and imbalances in the level of development between the North and the South have become further deepened, foreshadowing gloomy prospects for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in developing countries. The ever- worsening energy, food and financial crises of recent days are seriously affecting the already vulnerable economies of developing countries.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“At the outset, on behalf of the delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I also wish to express confidence that, under your able stewardship, the current session will be a success. It is a centuries-long aspiration of mankind to live in a peaceful and prosperous world, free from war and domination. Nearly 10 years have passed since the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2), reflecting that common desire. Nevertheless, a vicious circle of aggression and intervention, conflict and terrorism still persists within international relations, and, consequently, global peace and security continue to face serious new challenges.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)