PSPD in English Peace/Disarmament 2005-07-23   2991

Solve the Crisis Peacefully, Work towards a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Northeast Asia

Civil Society’s Call on the Six-Party Talks

July 22, 2005 NGO leaders from Northeast Asia, namely South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and Mongolia, and the US, have jointly issued a statement at the Untied Nations to call on the governments of the region for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis over North Korea prior to the resumed Six-Party Talk scheduled on next Tuesday. The statement was sent to all the six government Missions to the UN on Friday.

The statement was created at the occasion of the UN Conference of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), which provided unique opportunity for the key NGOs in Northeast Asia, including Korea,Japan, and China, get together to discuss their peace agenda. At the end of the Conference on Thursday, the NGOs have agreed to create a platform, on which they continue to work for denuclearization and peacebuilding in the region. The statement declared their intention “to launch a Civil Society Forum in parallel to the Six-Party Talks” to explore “innovative and flexible approaches that are needed for the realization
of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia.”

FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT

July 20, 2005
United Nations, New York

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. We welcome the planned resumption of the Six-Party Talks, which should provide a common platform for the States concerned to realize an immediate, peaceful and irreversible resolution to the crisis.

Any solution to the crisis should be brought about through simultaneous actions of the parties, namely the DPRK’s complete dismantlement of its nuclear weapons’ program and its return to the NPT regime on the one hand, and the abandonment by the United States of its hostile policy against the DPRK, including a security assurance. Governments engaged in the Six-Party Talks should promote dialogue and cooperation by providing mutual incentives to achieve a win-win solution, and should refrain from any actions which would harm peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and would undermine the conditions for a productive negotiation among the parties.

Peaceful resolution through dialogue should be the fundamental principle in solving this crisis. We denounce any threat or exercise of military options by States concerned. The 1992 Joint Declaration for Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula provides an agreed basis for developing a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula. We are committed to strengthen our efforts to work towards a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia. The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is an essential element for creation of such a zone in Northeast Asia.

The current nuclear crisis on the Peninsula should also be understood as a symptom of the Cold War structures that remain in Northeast Asia. It is thus essential to evolve beyond these structures by normalization of the relations between the DPRK and the US and between the DPRK and Japan, and by developing cooperation among all States in the region based on mutual trust. All those factors which pose nuclear and military threats in the region, including the United States’ nuclear and military strategies and the nuclear weapon dependent security policies, should be seriously addressed and replaced by coordinated disarmament and demilitarization actions throughout the region. In this context, steps must be taken to curb Japanese militarization and to protect Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution.

We, the concerned citizens, hereby declare our intention to launch a Civil Society Forum in parallel to the Six-Party Talks where we will pursue innovative and flexible approaches that are needed for the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia. Making substantial progress in Northeast Asia to disengage the deadlock would provide momentum for disarmament and promotion of security in other regions in the world, namely the Middle East and South Asia. The development of nuclear weapon free zones in these troubled regions would provide a breakthrough for the current impasse of the worldwide nuclear non-proliferation regime.

As 2005 marks the 60th anniversary since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is essential to remember the inherently inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. We must de-legitimize nuclear weapons, and recognize that any policies dependent on such weapons of non-discriminatory mass massacre are immoral, irresponsible, impractical and illegal. We reaffirm our commitment to take the lead in the international community towards achieving that goal.

GPPAC

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