YouSaid · the spoken record

Tillerson

lines on the record: 51
first: 2017-04-28
most recent: 2017-12-15
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-security-council

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

“They alone are responsible for these tensions, they alone must take responsibility for these tensions and they alone can solve these tensions.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“The Democratic People's Republic of Korea must be held accountable for its actions. In that regard, in response to any notion that the source of tensions on the peninsula are the fault of no one party, there is but one party that has carried out illegal detonations of nuclear devices. There is but one party that continues to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles in violation of Security Council resolutions, overflying another sovereign nation - Japan - and threatening civil aviation security because, as those launches are undertaken with no notification. There is but one party that has been targeted with punishment and penalties through the most vigorous sanctions regime ever enacted, and that is the Kim Jong Un regime in North Korea.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“I would like to take a moment to respond to the statements made by the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. First, I think we have heard all of these things before from that Government. There is no doubt that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal is in clear violation of international law, directly challenges the global non-proliferation regime and greatly threatens international peace and security. This organ has unanimously made those points for well over a decade now. The international community condemns North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, and we will never accept a nuclear North Korea. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's unlawful acts cannot be ignored, nor can they be explained away.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“We will continue to hold North Korea accountable for its reckless and threatening behaviour today and in future. We ask every nation here to join us in exerting sovereignty to protect all of our people. We also ask all to join a unified effort to achieve a complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“We have been Clear that all options remain on the table in the defence of our nation, but we do not seek, nor do we want, war with North Korea. The United States will use all necessary measures to defend itself against North Korean aggression, but our hope remains that diplomacy will produce a resolution. As I said earlier this week, a sustained cessation of North Korea's threatening behaviour must occur before talks can begin. North Korea must earn its way back to the table. The pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved. We will, in the meantime, keep our channels of communication open. Our message today is one that this body has heard before and one that we will continue to repeat: the United States will not allow the regime in Pyongyang to hold the world hostage.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“The regime could feed and care for women, children and ordinary people in North Korea if it were to choose the welfare of its people over weapons development. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has a choice: it can reverse course, give up its unlawful nuclear-weapon programme and join the community of nations, or it can continue to condemn its people to poverty and isolation. The regime in Pyongyang bears the ultimate responsibility for the well-being of its people. North Korea claims to undertake its nuclear-weapon programme as an essential step for the survival of its regime. In making that choice, North Korea has made itself less secure, and its economy has become further isolated and disconnected from the global economy.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“We particularly call on Russia and China to increase pressure, including going beyond the full implementation of the Security Council resolutions. Continuing to allow North Korean labourers to toil in slave-like conditions inside Russia in exchange for wages used to fund nuclear-weapon programmes calls into question Russia's dedication as a partner for peace. Similarly, as Chinese crude oil flows to North Korean refineries, the United States questions China's commitment to solving an issue that has serious implications for the security of its own citizens. Recently, the North Korean regime has sought to portray United Nations sanctions as harmful to women and children. But this is a regime that hypocritically spends billions on nuclear and ballistic missile programmes while its own people suffer great poverty.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“Last spring, the United States initiated a peaceful pressure campaign of economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea, with the intent of setting conditions for North Korea to engage in serious negotiations for the complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of its nuclear-weapon programmes. Our resolve to continue that campaign is even greater today. Over the past, year many allies and partners of the United States have joined our campaign, going beyond mere compliance with the Security Council resolutions. We ask those nations to continue to increase pressure through unilateral action. Doing so will further isolate North Korea politically and economically, cutting off support and funds for its unlawful nuclear and missile programmes.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“For those nations that have not yet done so, or that have been slow to enforce Security Council resolutions, their hesitation calls into question whether their vote is a commitment to words only but not actions. For countries that have not taken action, I urge them to consider their interests, their allegiances and their values in the face of this grave and global threat. We believe that more can and must be done beyond enforcing the minimum requirements of the Security Council resolutions directed at the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“The North Korean regime's continuing unlawful missile launches and testing activities signal its contempt for the United States, its neighbours in Asia and all Members of the United Nations. In the face of such a threat, inaction is unacceptable for any nation. Through a series of robust Security Council resolutions, this organ has taken a leading role in condemning North Korea's unlawful nuclear and missile programmes and imposing consequences. The international community remains firm in its determination that it will not accept a nuclear North Korea. Each United Nations State Member must fully implement all existing Security Council resolutions.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the Security Council today. On behalf of the United States, I thank Japan and Foreign Minister Kono for convening today's ministerial meeting on the growing threat from North Korea. Upon taking office, President Trump identified North Korea as the greatest national security threat to the United States. That judgment remains the same today. After its intercontinental ballistic-missile launch on 29 November, the North Korean Government claimed that it now possesses the capability to strike any location in the continental United States. North Korea's growing capabilities reflect a direct threat to our security and the security of the entire world. We do not regard this claim as an empty threat.”
2017-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8137 (2017) · source
“Stopping nuclear proliferation also entails exercising other levers of power, whether diplomatic, economic, digital, moral or, if necessary, military. Ultimately, we each have a sovereign responsibility to ensure that we keep the world safe from nuclear warfare, the aftermath of which would transcend all borders. The United States will continue to work to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. We ask all peace-loving nations to join us in this mission.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“One of the great successes of the campaign of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been uprooting ISIS from formally safe havens in which it could freely mastermind attacks against targets the world over. These efforts must continue. As a body committed to security, we must treat nuclear proliferation with the seriousness it deserves. For those of us on the Security Council, counteracting nuclear threats begins with full enforcement of the Security Council resolutions all Member States are bound to implement. To make sure all nations are able to play their part, we must continue to work for the full and effective implementation of resolution 1540 (2004). But signing treaties and adopting resolutions is not enough.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“We must deepen information-sharing between intelligence agencies in order to identify actors and identify where nuclear materials have been or may be diverted from legitimate uses. We must revive the practice of creating alternative career and job opportunities for nuclear experts so they do not sell their skills on the black market. But ultimately, the best means to halt jihadists in their quest for nuclear weapons is to destroy them long before they can reach their goal. Whether on the battlefield, in the streets or online, terrorism must be given no quarter. We must remain ever vigilant against the spread of ISIS and other Islamist groups in new locations, whether in Africa, Asia, Europe or elsewhere.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Their grand-scale terror attacks, beheadings, crucifixions, burnings, rapes, torture and acts of enslavement expose the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), Al-Qaida and other groups as those who seek to find glory through death and destruction. Their eagerness to commit atrocities makes it clear that if given the chance, they would sow death and destruction on an even larger scale - and there is no scale larger than a nuclear attack on one of the world's cities. Many jihadist groups aspire to detonate a nuclear device in the heart of a booming metropolis. Their mission is to kill our people and send the world into a downward spiral. We must never allow this. We must continue to work to secure nuclear technologies, blueprints and materials at their own sources and disrupt proliferation networks.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Cooperation from China is also essential if the international community is to bring North Korean nuclear missile threats under control and prevent a catastrophe spiralling towards instability and conflict on the Korean peninsula. If China truly desires to denuclearize the Korean peninsula to promote stability and to avoid conflict in that sensitive region right on its own border, now is the time to work with the rest of us - the rest of the international community - to put the kind of pressure on North Korea that can change its strategic calculation before it is too late. Lastly, we must be fully aware that there are non-State actors who will never conform to international norms governing nuclear weapons.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Examples include violating its own obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, flouting the security assurances it made at the end ofthe Cold War, impeding efforts to build on the legacy of past international efforts on nuclear security, and seeking to weaken the International Atomic Energy Agency's independence in investigating clandestine nuclear programmes. If Russia wants to restore its role as a credible actor in resolving the situation with North Korea, it can prove its good intentions by upholding its commitments to establishing international efforts on nuclear security and arms control.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“In the post-Cold War era, Russia worked hard to improve accountability for its nuclear stockpile dispersed across the former Soviet Union, and we engaged closely in cooperative efforts, through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, to reduce the risks of weapons or material falling into the hands of proliferators or terrorists. Unfortunately, in recent years Russia has often acted in ways that weaken global norms and undercut efforts to hold nations accountable.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“We especially urge Russia to examine how it can better support global non-proliferation efforts. As the world's two most powerful nuclear States, Russia and the United States share the greatest responsibility for upholding non-proliferation norms and stopping the further spread of nuclear weapons. We have cooperated well before. The United States and the Soviet Union worked together closely in drafting most of the texts that became the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which helped keep proliferation under control through the Cold War. Washington, DC, and Moscow did this, moreover, notwithstanding their own Cold War rivalry and the many problems in their bilateral relationship.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Iran seems keen to preserve for itself the option to resume such work in the future, even while sponsoring international terrorism, developing missile systems capabilities for delivering nuclear weapons and destabilizing its neighbours in a dangerous quest for regional hegemony. The collective responsibilities of meeting such proliferation challenges will require more from all of us. As President Trump said in his speech on Tuesday, "If we are to embrace the opportunities of the future and overcome the present dangers together, there can be no substitute for strong, sovereign and independent nations" (A/72/PV3, p. 14). As strong, sovereign and independent nations, we must work together bilaterally, regionally and globally to stem the tide of proliferation. Sovereign States, acting in unison, will produce a global good.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“As we look to the future, the international community's record of enforcing compliance with non-proliferation obligations and commitments is not what we need it to be. It is partly for lack of such accountability that we find ourselves in the situation that we are in with North Korea at the moment. Although it joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the mid-19805, North Korea never came into full compliance with the Treaty and cheated on every subsequent arrangement designed to remedy that non-compliance and rein in the nuclear threat it now presents. There are also lessons here for Iran, which was on its own pathway to develop nuclear weapons, in violation of its Non-Proliferation Treaty, nuclear safeguard obligations and multiple, legally binding Security Council resolutions.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“As a result, South Korea has grown into one of the world's great economic Powers, with a gross domestic product over 100 times larger that of its neighbour to the north. By contract, though, North Korea may assume that nuclear weapons will ensure the survival of its regime. In truth, nuclear weapons are clearly only leading to greater isolation, ignominy and deprivation. Continued threats against us, the United States, and now the entire global community will not create safety for the regime, but will rather stiffen our collective resolve and our commitment to deterring North Korean aggression. North Korea is a case study in why nations must work to preserve and strengthen global non-proliferation norms.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“If would-be proliferators seek security or to improve their standing in the world or to enhance the prosperity of their citizens and their peoples' hope for a brighter future, proliferation will not provide these things. There are much better proven ways for nations to establish and enhance their standing, such as deepening their trade integration with the rest of the world, adhering to international standards and agreements and participating in humanitarian activities. The Korean peninsula serves as a stark example of these differing paths. While North Korea has shunned the international community and let its people starve while it relentlessly pursues nuclear weapons, South Korea has opted not to pursue nuclear weapons and is fully engaged with the international community.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Such acquisitions risk creating an escalating spiral of regional or global instability and conflict, not just as a direct result of their own proliferation but by prompting other nations to undertake their own nuclear-weapons programmes in response. In such circumstances, nuclear weapons are not instruments of mutual deterrence and strategic stability, but instead are tools of destabilization. Rogue regimes may have persuaded themselves that they pursue nuclear weapons to establish and enhance their security and prestige but in fact nuclear weapons are more likely to undermine both. There is a very good reason why almost every country in the world has joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty. All parties can know that they will not in the future face the threat of nuclear catastrophe from any new direction.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Countries that want nuclear weapons must ask themselves, "Are we prepared to deal with this type of scenario in our own country?" The history of the Cuban missile crisis and the Soviet early-warning malfunction illustrate how challenging it can be even for the most experienced and most sophisticated nuclear-weapon possessors to control nuclear dangers. Rogue regimes fail to appreciate the responsibilities inherent to nuclear weapons. They wish to develop or expand their holdings of nuclear weapons in what they claim to be a search for security, but in fact they desire to use such tools to intimidate and coerce their neighbours and destabilize their regions.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“He said, "All I had to do was to reach for the phone to raise the direct line to our top commanders but I could not move. I felt like I was sitting on a frying pan". Petrov had a hunch that the computer had made an error, and fortunately he was right about a false alarm. Instead of notifying his commanders to prepare an immediate nuclear counter-attack, he instead called army headquarters and reported a system malfunction. This episode illustrates just how high the risk factor is with nuclear weapons, especially when decisions to use them are entrusted or could be entrusted to sometimes unreliable technologies or fallible human judgment.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“Nuclear weapons brought the most powerful men in the world no comfort, but it did make clear the need to minimize the risk of ever repeating this near-miss of a catastrophe by permitting nuclear capabilities to spread further. Just this week, the world learned of the passing of a little-known but important figure in the history of the cold war. His name was Stanislav Petrov and he is sometimes referred to as "the man who saved the world". In 1983, Petrov was a Soviet military officer on duty at a nuclear early-warning centre when his computers detected a barrage of incoming American nuclear missiles. He said, "I had all the data to suggest that it was true". He said, "IfI had sent my report up the chain of command, nobody would have said a word against it".”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“The United States is reliant upon nuclear deterrence today for the purposes of safeguarding not only our own security interests, but also those of our allies who otherwise might feel the need to acquire such weapons themselves. Such deterrence and such relationships have contributed to the absence of war between the great Powers since 1945 and, indeed, to the fact that nuclear weapons themselves have never been used again. We are all fortunate that John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, when they stood on the brink of a nuclear holocaust during the Cold War, came to a common understanding of the fearful and awesome power of nuclear weapons. As potential human extinction loomed over the Cuban missile crisis, the dominant emotion was fear.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“They reduced the danger of nuclear conflict and help reduce the chances of such capabilities falling into the hands of irresponsible third parties. As the only nation on Earth to have used nuclear weapons in warfare, the United States bears a heavy responsibility to exercise proper stewardship of nuclear weapons and to lead in working with other nations to reduce global nuclear dangers. It is a blessing and perhaps in many ways a miracle that nuclear weapons have never been used again. All the peoples ofthe world pray that they will never be. Experience is a hard but wise teacher and has taught everyone the grim moral responsibility that accompanies nuclear weapons.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“He once remarked to me, "It was the best thing I ever did for our young country". Ukraine made a similar courageous choice. Even after Russia's encouraging incursion into its territory in Crimea in eastern Ukraine, in violation of Moscow's commitments under the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine's leaders reaffirmed yet again the wisdom of their decision to remove nuclear weapons. Their friends and allies quickly came to their aid in response to this violation of their sovereignty with a strong unified set of sanctions on Russia and are steadfastly committed to ending this conflict through full implementation of the Minsk agreements. By rejecting the power of nuclear weapons, both of these two proud nations are in a better place than they would have been otherwise.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“As a result of letting go of nuclear weapons, the world does not look on Kazakhstan as a potential nuclear aggressor or a rogue State. It did not make enemies of its nuclear neighbours, Russia and China. Today, Kazakhstan has overwhelmingly been at peace with his neighbours, and its trade relations are robust. This year it hosted Expo 2017, an event in Astana that showcased the sources of future energy and investment opportunities in Kazakhstan for attendees from around the world. Kazakhstan is a modern nation making a substantial contribution to regional and international peace and prosperity. It has only benefited from its early decision. In my previous career, I met President Nazarbayev on many occasions and had the opportunity to ask him about this decision. He is more at peace with his choice than ever.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“In partnership with the United States and aided by the Cooperative Threat Reduction Act spearheaded by United States Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, Kazakhstan opted to remove from his territory former Soviet weapons and related nuclear technologies and joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon State. This courageous decision of the leaders of Kazakhstan greatly reduced the prospect of nuclear weapons, components of nuclear weapons, nuclear materials or dual-use technologies from falling into the wrong hands. Nuclear weapons introduce complexity into relations with other countries and introduce the risk of miscalculation, accident or escalation. Kazakhstan's actions represented a key step in that country becoming part of the community of nations.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine willingly gave up the nuclear weaponry that the Soviet collapse bequeathed to their territories, and over the years several other countries were willing to abandon clandestine nuclear- weapons development efforts when reassured by the United States and others that their relationships with us and the global community enabled them to meet their national security needs without such tools. The Republic of Kazakhstan is a particularly illustrative example of the wisdom of relinquishing nuclear weapons.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“And lastly, all nations, but most particularly the current nuclear Powers, must recommit to sound nuclear-security practices and robust and effective non-proliferation efforts in order to keep nuclear weapons and associated materials and technology out of the hands of irresponsible nations, terrorists and non-State actors. There are historical precedents of nations abandoning their nuclear-weapons programmes and arsenals out of self-interest. Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Ukraine all weighed the risk and responsibility of nuclear weapons and made the decision to eliminate their nuclear programmes or give up their nuclear weapons. As the apartheid regime in South Africa ended, the country's leaders eliminated its nuclear weapons and joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear- weapon State.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“The challenge for each of us is: How can we decrease the threat posed by nuclear weapons, not just to our own people, but people worldwide? Today I want to put four points forward. The first is to highlight the positive trajectory of nations that have voluntarily relinquished nuclear weapons. The second is to emphasize the moral burden of possessing nuclear weapons, and the enormous responsibility that accompanies stewardship of such devastating weapons, as well as the technologies and nuclear materials that go into them. The third is to make clear that acquiring nuclear-weapons capability does not provide security, prestige or other benefits, but instead represents a path to isolation and intense security scrutiny from the global community, as those responsible nuclear Powers will check such uncertain unpredictable threats.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“I appreciate the opportunity to address the Security Council again, and I thank this month's presidency, Ethiopia. Members of the Security Council often talk of threats to global security. The focus of today's Security Council meeting is an issue with worldwide implications - nuclear proliferation. At a time when stabbings, crudely constructed bombs and trucks driven into crowds of innocent men, women and children are often our enemies' weapons of choice to attack us, it is easy to become complacent and see the threat of nuclear attacks as a relic of the Cold War. The threat of a nuclear attack remains a grim reality, and those who would trigger such a horrific scenario pose a unique threat to peace-loving nations.”
2017-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8053 (2017) · source
“And we have called for those sanctions to be extended to other areas as well, on a voluntary basis, and we are calling globally for all countries to participate in exerting pressure on North Korea. That is the way you make your voice heard, through action. Any failure to take action diminishes your vote for these resolutions of the past. It diminishes your vote for future resolutions. And it devalues your seat at the Council. We must have full, complete compliance by all members of the Council. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. The meeting rose at 12.10p.m.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“Had this body fully enforced and stood behind the resolutions it enacted in the past, vigorously enforcing sanctions with full compliance, perhaps we would not have found ourselves confronted with the high level of tension we face today. We will not negotiate our way back to the negotiating table with North Korea. We will not reward their violations of past resolutions. We will not reward their bad behaviour with talks. We will engage in talks with North Korea only when they exhibit a good-faith commitment to abiding by Security Council resolutions and their past promises to end their nuclear programmes. That is why we must have full and complete compliance by every country with the resolutions that have been enacted by this body in the past - no relaxation in the vigorous implementation of sanctions.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“I shall now make a further statement in my capacity as Secretary of State of the United States. First, I appreciate all of the statements that have been made. I have received those statements in the constructive spirit in which I know they were offered. I also want to acknowledge the presence of a large number of Ambassadors with us today. Their presence gives strength to the importance of this issue and is a visible demonstration of the importance of this issue to the international community. I welcome their presence and appreciate their being here. As stressed repeatedly in many of the statements today, North Korea has failed to honour its commitments of the past. It has made promises that it has broken.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“In one of my first trips as America's Secretary of State, I looked across the demilitarized zone at the haunted land of North Korea. Beyond the border is a nation of sorrow, frozen in time. While the world sees the gleaming buildings of Pyongyang, the blight of oppression and starvation has swept this land for more than 60 years. But even though the present condition of that country is bleak, the United States believes in a future for North Korea. These first steps towards a more hopeful future will happen most quickly if other stakeholders in the region and the global community join us. For years, North Korea has been dictating the terms of its dangerous course of action. It is time for us to retake control of the situation. We ask the members of the Council and all other partners to implement a new strategy to denuclearize North Korea.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“But the catastrophic effects of a North Korean nuclear strike outweigh any economic benefits. We must be willing to face the hard truths and make hard choices right now so as to prevent disastrous outcomes in future. Business as usual is not an option. There is also a moral dimension to this problem. Countries must know by now that helping the North Korean regime means enabling cruelty and suffering. North Korea feeds billions of dollars into a nuclear programme it does not need while its own people starve. The regime's pursuit of nuclear weapons does not serve its own national security or the well-being of a people trapped in tyranny. I ask the community of nations to help us preserve security and protect human dignity.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“The United States and China have held very productive exchanges on this issue, and we look forward to further actions that build on what China has already done. Lastly, as we have said before, all options for responding to future provocation must remain on the table. Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary. We would much prefer a negotiated solution to this problem, but we are committed to defending ourselves and our allies against North Korean aggression. This new pressure campaign will be swiftly implemented and painful to North Korean interests. I realize that some nations for which a relationship with North Korea has been in some ways a net-positive may be disinclined to implement the measures of pressure on North Korea.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“The United States also would much prefer the countries and peoples in question to own up to their lapses and correct their behaviour themselves, but we will not hesitate to sanction third-country entities and individuals supporting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's illegal activities. We must bring maximum economic pressure to bear on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by severing the trade relationships that directly fund its nuclear-missile programme. I call on the international community to suspend the flow of North Korean guest workers and to impose bans on North Korean imports, especially coal. We must all do our share, but China alone, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korean trade, has economic leverage over Pyongyang Yang that is unique, and its role is therefore particularly important.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“Secondly, we call on countries to suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with North Korea. North Korea exploits its diplomatic privileges to fund its illicit nuclear-missile technology programmes, and constraining its diplomatic activity will cut off a flow of needed resources. In the light ofNorth Korea's recent actions, normal relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are simply not acceptable. Thirdly, we must increase North Korea's financial isolation. We must levy new sanctions on Democratic People's Republic of Korea entities and individuals supporting its weapons and missile programmes and tighten those that are already in place.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“For its own sake, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea must dismantle its nuclear-missile programmes if it wants to achieve the security, economic development and international recognition that it seeks. North Korea must understand that respect will never follow recklessness. North Korea must take concrete steps to reduce the threat that its illegal weapons programmes pose to the United States and our allies before we can even consider talks. I propose that all nations take the following three actions beginning today. First, we call on States Members of the United Nations fully to implement the commitments that they have made regarding North Korea. This includes all measures required and resolutions 2321 (2016) and 2270 (2016). Those nations that have not fully enforced those resolutions discredit this body.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“The new campaign that the United States is embarking upon is driven by our own national security considerations and is welcomed by many nations that are concerned for their own security and that question why North Korea claims nuclear capabilities for which it has no need. Our goal is not regime change, nor do we desire to threaten the North Korean people or destabilize the Asia-Pacific region. Over the years, we have withdrawn our own nuclear weapons from South Korea and offered aid in North Korea as proof of our intent to de-escalate the situation and normalize relations. Since 1995, the United States has provided more than $1.3 billion in aid to North Korea. We look forward to resuming our contributions once the Democratic People's Republic of Korea begins to dismantle its nuclear weapons and missile-technology programmes.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences. We have said this before, and it bears repeating: the policy of strategic patience is over. Additional patience will mean only acceptance of a nuclear North Korea. The longer we bide our time, the sooner we will run out of it. In the light of this growing threat, the time has come for all of us to put new pressure on North Korea to abandon its dangerous path. I urge the Council to act before North Korea does. We must work together to adopt a new approach and impose increased diplomatic and economic pressure on the North Korean regime.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“It is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the United States mainland. Indeed, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has repeatedly claimed that it plans to conduct such a strike. Given that rhetoric, the United States cannot idly stand by, nor can other members of the Council that are within striking distance of North Korean missiles. Having for years displayed a pattern of behaviour that defies multiple Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 2321 (2016) and 2270 (2016), and erodes global progress on nuclear non-proliferation, there is no reason to think that North Korea will change its behaviour under the current multilateral sanctions framework. For too long, the international community has been reactive in addressing North Korea. Those days must come to an end.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“I thank the Secretary-General for that most helpful briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the Secretary of State of the United States. I am grateful for this opportunity to address the Security Council According to resolution 2321 (2016), the stated objective of the Council is North Korea's abandonment ofits nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programmes. For the past 20 years, well-intentioned diplomatic efforts to halt those programmes have failed. It is only by first dismantling them that there can be peace, stability and economic prosperity for all of North-East Asia. With each successive detonation and missile test, North Korea pushes North-East Asia and the world closer to instability and broader conflict. The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source
“I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2017/337, which contains a letter dated 18 April 2017 from the Permanent Representative of United States of America to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration. I give the floor to the Secretary-General.”
2017-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7932 (2017) · source