YouSaid · the spoken record

Ri Yong Ho

lines on the record: 38
first: 2016-09-24
most recent: 2018-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“Based on the mission of the Organization as defined in the Charter of the United Nations, the Organization, and especially the Security Council, has the responsibility and duty to support and welcome developments that help to ensure international peace and security. The United Nations should really apply the theme of this session to its actual activities and thus rid itself, as soon as possible, of the stigma of the feeling that the Security Council equals the United States.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Worse still, the Council is taking a very worrying stand by rejecting the proposal of some of its member States to issue a presidential statement that welcomes the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-United States summit and the Joint Statement. The United Nations Command in South Korea even showed alarming signs of hindering the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration on Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula, reached between the North and the South. As for the United Nations Command, it is merely a command of the allied forces beyond the control of the United Nations and only obeys the orders of the United States, yet still misuses the sacred name of the Organization.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The implementation of the Joint Statement is a shared responsibility of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States. The United Nations also plays a key role. The Security Council, which was once so eager to express its concern about the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, has recently been silent about the valuable momentum for peace that we have achieved this year. That is quite strange. The Council rained down numerous sanctions resolutions on us, taking issue with our nuclear tests and missile test launches. But now, a full year after such tests were stopped, not a word in those resolutions has changed, to say nothing of completely removing or easing sanctions.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Improving bilateral relations and resolving issues on the Korean peninsula is key to achieving the theme of this session: “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”. Our new policy of concentrating all efforts on building our economy is the right political choice, not only for improving the lives of our people but also for realizing the common aspirations of people around the world — peace and development. The international community should support and encourage our efforts to focus on building the economy in response to the bold decisions and goodwill measures that we have taken for the easing of tension and the maintenance of lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“One part of the spirit of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-United States summit in Singapore was to free ourselves from old, conventional ways and to try an entirely new way of resolving the issues. At this critical juncture, the United States should use foresight and decide that the faithful fulfilment of the commitment that it made in Singapore will, in the end, be in its own national interest and should form the basis of a new method for improving relations between our two countries. Only then will the Joint Statement have positive prospects. If the Joint Statement falls victim to American internal politics, the main victim of the subsequent unpredictable consequences will be the United States.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“From the very first day of our Republic, 70 years ago, the United States has maintained a hostile policy against our country and has imposed a total economic blockade on us, ensuring that United States companies cannot trade even a single screwnail with our country. Even though we have not thrown so much as a pebble onto United States soil, during the Korean War the United States threatened to drop dozens of atomic bombs on our country. Even after that, the United States kept positioning strategic nuclear arsenals at our doorstep. If both countries continue to harbour mistrust towards one other and to remain obsessed with the past, the recent Joint Statement cannot escape the same fate as all previous agreements between the two countries, namely, failure.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The political opposition there, with the sole purpose of attacking its political opponent, makes it its daily business to slander the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, claiming that we cannot be trusted. That opposition is forcing the Administration to make unreasonable unilateral demands on us, thus impeding the smooth progress of dialogue and negotiations. Fuelling mistrust of a dialogue partner while relying only on coercive methods is not at all helpful in building trust; on the contrary, it only increases mistrust. On the topic of reasons to distrust each other, it is we who have far more reasons to distrust the United States. First, the United States acquired nuclear weapons before we did and is the only country that has actually used them in war.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“That is why we attach great importance to building confidence between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States for the implementation of the Joint Statement. Without trust in the United States, we can have no confidence with regard to our national security, and, under those circumstances, there is no way that we will unilaterally disarm first. The commitment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to denuclearization is firm. However, it will be possible only if the United States sufficiently earns our trust. There are pessimistic views on the implementation of the Joint Statement inside the United States, but that is not due to any flaw in the Statement itself. Rather, it is because of the domestic politics of the United States.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As demonstrated by the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018, which was jointly announced by the leaders of the North and the South on 19 September, dialogue between the two countries in many areas — including politics, the military, humanitarian work, sports, culture and economic cooperation — is very active, and there is an unprecedented atmosphere of reconciliation and cooperation. Many noteworthy outcomes can be seen, and the process enjoys the support of and is welcomed by the entire Korean nation and the international community. If South Korea had been the party involved in the issue of denuclearization instead of the United States, the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would not be at such a deadlock.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The recent dramatic improvement in North-South relations and the atmosphere of cooperation clearly show how decisive the role of trust-building can be. In less than five months, the leaders of the North and the South met three times. Through their meetings and talks they have been building the trust in one another that is necessary to resolve the various issues in North- South relations in a constructive manner, and this has been translated into tangible results.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We continue to make efforts to build trust. However, we do not see any corresponding response from the United States. On the contrary, instead of addressing our concern about the lack of a peace regime on the Korean peninsula, the United States has insisted on denuclearization first and has increased the level of pressure through sanctions in order to achieve its purpose through coercion — even objecting to an end-of-war declaration. The perception that sanctions can bring us to our knees is a pipe dream of people who are ignorant about us. The problem is that the continued sanctions are deepening our mistrust. The reason behind the recent deadlock is that the United States relies on coercive methods that are lethal to trust-building.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It is our position that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula should be achieved alongside the building of a peace regime, on the basis of the principle of simultaneous actions, step by step, starting with what we can do and prioritizing the building of trust. Out of the desire and resolute determination to successfully implement the Joint Statement, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is primarily focusing its efforts on building trust. Even before the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-United States summit, our Government took significant goodwill measures, such as stopping nuclear and intercontinental ballistic-missile tests, dismantling the nuclear test site in a transparent manner and committing not to transfer nuclear weapons or nuclear technology under any circumstances.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The commitment of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the full implementation of the Joint Statement is unwavering. The primary task in ensuring the effective implementation of the Statement must be to break down the barrier of mistrust between the two countries that has existed for several decades. To that end, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States should devote great efforts to building trust as a top priority. The implementation of previous agreements reached in various dialogues and negotiations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States ended in failure because the level of mistrust between them was too high and resulted in a general lack of confidence.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Joint Statement contains all of the issues of principle regarding eventual solutions to the issues on the Korean peninsula, such as terminating the decades-long hostility between the two countries and establishing new relations between them, thus building a robust peace regime on the Korean peninsula, realizing the complete denuclearization of the peninsula and promoting humanitarian work between the two countries. Once the Joint Statement has been implemented, the current trend towards détente will turn into durable peace, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will also be achieved. As a result, the Korean peninsula, currently the most intense global hotspot, will become a cradle of peace and prosperity that contributes to security in Asia and the rest of the world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The fact that representatives of numerous countries have been unanimous in supporting and welcoming, from this rostrum, the current direction of developments on the Korean peninsula clearly shows that the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s strategic choice and its sincere efforts to pursue that choice are fully aligned with the common interests and desires of the international community. The key to consolidating peace and security on the Korean peninsula is to thoroughly implement the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-United States Joint Statement, adopted in June at the historic bilateral summit held in Singapore.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Comrade Chairman Kim Jong Un has actively participated in summit-level diplomatic activities with a firm determination to turn the Korean peninsula into a land of peace, free of both nuclear weapons and nuclear threats. He thereby made an important breakthrough in improving North-South relations and relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States, as well as in revitalizing friendly and cooperative relations with neighbouring countries, thus marking a turning point and a dramatic easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula and the region as whole. Peace and security in the region will be consolidated and that, in turn, will lead to world peace and security — to the benefit of all States Members of the United Nations.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Such a situation requires that the role of the United Nations be even further enhanced. It is on the Korean peninsula that the most tangible trend towards peace and development was newly created this year. In April, Comrade Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, put forward a new strategic line of concentrating all efforts on socialist economic construction. Since we have sufficiently consolidated our national defence capabilities and war deterrence so as to cope with the several-decades-long nuclear threats against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, we now must concentrate all of our efforts on the historic task of building the economy. Our Government’s policy line of focusing on the economy requires a peaceful environment above all else.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“First of all, allow me to congratulate Her Excellency Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés on her election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. I look forward to a successful outcome of the session under her able stewardship. Peace and development is the common desire of our times and constitutes the main objective of the United Nations, defining all of its activities. Many countries around the world concentrate their efforts on achieving peace and development, but such efforts are still faced with serious challenges. During the past year, we have witnessed greater tension in overall international relations, with peace being threatened and development being deterred in many parts of the world owing to the “power does it all” attitude of unilateralism.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“This it will do by having a powerful nuclear deterrent, with a view to safeguarding peace and security on the Korean peninsula, and in Asia and the world at large, and to denuclearizing the world.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is one such country, but that only goes to show that we are an independent country that is against the United States and its supporting Powers. The United States raises the issue of our human rights because it is at a loss in dealing with the nuclear issue. If it is at a loss again as to what human rights question to pursue, it will take up another issue to continue its attempt to stifle the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. However, our people will never renounce socialism and the system of absolute service that they themselves have chosen, as a result of United States policies. The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will push ahead with its vigorous struggle to remove the root cause of the threat of nuclear war imposed by the United States.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The covert political attempts of the United States and Western countries to infringe upon the sovereignty of independent African countries by abusing recourse to the International Criminal Court should be held in check. The double standard of the United States and its supporting Powers should be resolutely rejected; they politicize human rights issues to intentionally demonize the anti-imperialist and independent countries, and they misuse human rights as a tool of colour revolutions. If the United Nations relinquishes justice, no country will place its hopes in the Organization. Any country that the United States regards as an antagonist and has targeted for regime change is automatically categorized as a country with human rights problems, without exception. That is the practice pursued at today’s United Nations.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea takes this opportunity to extend full support and solidarity to the Government and people of Cuba in their struggle to safeguard the dignity and sovereignty of the nation and realize international justice in the face of the high-handedness, arbitrariness and unilateral blockade of the United States. International justice should be realized as soon as possible in the Palestine issue and in those countries and regions like Syria, Iraq and Libya that face the turbulence of war and violence owing to the unbridled interference of the United States in the internal affairs of sovereign States.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will continue to take measures to strengthen its national nuclear- armed forces, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in order to defend its dignity and right to existence, and to safeguard genuine peace vis-à-vis the increased threat of nuclear war by the United States. In order to safeguard global peace and security by realizing genuine international justice, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, the old international order, where injustice prevails under the guise of justice, must be destroyed to give way to a new international order of impartiality and justice. The blockade unjustly imposed on Cuba by the United States of America for the past several decades is a typical example of the total absence of international justice.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The successful nuclear warhead explosion test that we conducted recently is a practical countermeasure taken in reaction to the host of threats and sanctions from hostile forces, including the United States of America, that viciously make an issue of the exercise by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of its right to self-defence. The test also demonstrates our Party’s and people’s strongest will ever in its readiness to wage a counter-attack against provocation by enemies. Only a couple of days ago, the United States again threatened the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by flying B-1B strategic bombers over the Military Demarcation Line on the Korean peninsula and landing in South Korea. We will never remain onlookers to such acts of provocation, and the United States will have to face inconceivable consequences.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“International justice never comes by itself; it can be achieved only when the voice of independent countries against imperialism grows strong. Opting to become an armed nuclear Power is our State policy. As long as there is a nuclear-weapon State that is hostile to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, our national security and peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only by means of a credible nuclear deterrent. The reason why we had no other option but to strengthen our nuclear deterrence unreservedly may not be easily understood by European countries, whose security awareness attenuated following the end of the Cold War 25 years ago, or by countries that have never had the nuclear weapons of a hostile Power on their doorstep and in their air space.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“They underlined that “Sanctions should be imposed only when a threat to international peace and security or an act of aggression takes place, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.” In the Final Declaration of the Margarita Summit, the Heads of State and Government “expressed their condemnation at the promulgation and application of unilateral coercive measures against countries of the Movement, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, particularly the principles of non-intervention, self-determination and independence of States”. This is the common position of the NAM countries that make up nearly two thirds of the membership of the United Nations. This is the true voice of the international community.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Last week, the 17th Summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (NAM) was held on the beautiful island of Margarita in Venezuela. In the final document, the Heads of State and Government expressed concern that “In recent years, the Security Council has been too quick to threaten or authorize enforcement action in some cases while being silent and inactive in others”.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“If the Council has such grounds and authority, why does it not adopt resolutions against countries that conduct the same nuclear and ballistic rocket tests? We submitted an official questionnaire to the Secretariat of the United Nations in this regard, but nearly four months have elapsed and the Secretariat has not responded. Yet, the reason is clear. It is because the Security Council is the place where guilt or innocence is decided on the basis not of justice, but of whether one has the veto power. The United States of America does not have the moral authority to force United Nations Member States to implement this kind of undeserved resolution, and Member States have no moral obligation to implement these unfair and unjust resolutions.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“That resolution is the latest fabrication against my country. As for the legal basis for the resolution, neither the Charter of the United Nations nor any other international convention has a provision stipulating that nuclear and ballistic missile activity represents a threat to international peace and security. In practice, countries that began the same activities long before the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have never been called into question in the Security Council. One cannot help but ask on what grounds and with what authority did the Security Council adopt resolution 2270 (2016), which prohibits the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from engaging in nuclear and ballistic missile activities.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“On the other hand, the Security Council takes issue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s rightful self-defence measures to safeguard its sovereignty, dignity and national security. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had no other choice but to go nuclear after doing everything possible to defend its national security from the constant United States nuclear threat, which has persisted since the 1950s. Our decision to strengthen our nuclear armament is a rightful self-defence measure to protect ourselves from constant United States nuclear threats. Nevertheless, the Security Council, as recently as in its resolution 2270 (2016), declared that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities pose a clear threat to international peace and security.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“However, when the Security Council deals with the issue of the Korean peninsula, it now covers up the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the United States of America in the name of the United Nations, ignoring justice and international law. The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in accordance with Articles 34 and 35 of the Charter, has on several occasions requested the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the threat to international peace and security posed by the large-scale United States joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula. This year alone, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea made such requests to the Security Council in March and in August, but the Council rejected them every time.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“And they are becoming more and more provocative and aggressive. Currently on the international scene, the fundamental, widely recognized principles of international relations are being openly ignored by the United States-led imperialist forces in their outrageous schemes for domination and intervention, while justice is being criminalized and transformed into injustice, depending on the interests of the imperialist Powers. To safeguard international peace and security and achieve sustainable development, genuine international justice must be realized without fail. Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations refers to bringing about “by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace”.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The respected leader Comrade Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, noted at the seventh Congress of the Party that the United States should abandon its anachronistic hostile policy towards our country, replace the Korean Armistice Agreement with a peace agreement and withdraw its armed forces and war equipment from South Korea. He also clarified that dialogue and negotiations were needed, above all, between the military authorities of North and South Korea so as to ensure peace on the Korean peninsula and achieve national reunification. But there has been no positive response, and the large-scale joint military exercises targeting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have continued.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Concerns are increasingly being voiced about the aggravation of tensions by these large-scale joint military exercises. We hear concerns being expressed in neighbouring countries, many countries of the region and even the United States of America and South Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has made every possible effort to prevent an armed conflict and its escalation, while taking the necessary self-defensive countermeasures, whenever the United States and South Korea conduct provocative, aggressive joint military exercises.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Nowhere in the world today are such large-scale joint military exercises as those around the Korean peninsula conducted, nor do war games of such a provocative and offensive nature take place. Never have such undisguised military threats and extremely dangerous and aggressive exercises occurred right under the nose of an adversary. No proper institutional peace mechanism has been established on the Korean peninsula. The war of the 1950s has not ended, but a temporary armistice remains in force. That means that neither side feels the need to make a declaration of war if it wants to begin fighting again. It is a place where provocative military acts such as large-scale joint military exercises can easily infuriate the other side, provoking a response. 48/58 16-29667 Any incident could easily lead to a conflict and escalate into all-out war.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The large-scale joint military exercises conducted by the United States in March and April and in August and September this year were extremely provocative and massive military manoeuvres. They involved over 500,000 troops and strategic assets that included strategic nuclear bombers and strategic nuclear submarines. Their scale is more than large enough to wage an all-out war. Such nuclear war exercises are extremely offensive and aggressive, as they mainly include high- precision strikes, commando infiltration, landing and pre-emptive nuclear strikes aimed at the decapitation of the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the occupation of Pyongyang.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The Korean peninsula has now been turned into the world’s most dangerous hot spot and could even ignite a nuclear war. A peaceful environment is the foremost prerequisite for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which has embarked on the implementation of its national five-year economic development strategy to re-energize the overall economy and lay the foundation for its sustainable development. As the international community witnesses every year, the Korean peninsula is often engulfed in a situation that can spiral out of control. Its root cause lies squarely with the United States of America, which refuses to abandon its hostile policy towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but instead holds aggressive war exercises, one after another, in and around the Korean peninsula.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“First of all, allow me to congratulate Mr. Peter Thomson on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-first session. I hope that his able stewardship will lead this session to a successful outcome. I also hope that this session, under the theme “Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world”, will make a meaningful contribution to promoting the peaceful development and prosperity of all countries. Peace and security are the permanent themes of the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals presuppose peace and security. Even at this very moment, when the United Nations aspires to a transformation through sustainable development, the world is besieged with the wild wind of terrorism, an unprecedented war-driven refugee crisis and an increasing number of global hot spots.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)