Non-Subscriber Extract
UN ineffective in dealing with Pyongyang
- Article Tools
| 18 February 2003 |
By Anders Strindberg
The continuing crisis over North Korea's nuclear programme has highlighted the UN's practical powerlessness in dealing with non-proliferation issues. On 6 January, the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adopted a resolution calling for North Korea to co-operate "urgently and fully with the Agency" in a last-ditch effort before passing the issue on to the UN Security Council (UNSC). IAEA Director General Dr Mohammed El Baradei urged Pyongyang "to seize another opportunity" to open dialogue and allow the agency's inspectors to verify the country's nuclear programme.
El Baradei has said that North Korea had "a matter of weeks" in which to act before the issue of its non-compliance is sent to the UNSC. While this, from a UN perspective, upgrades an impasse to a crisis, it is not likely to significantly change the equation, as Pyongyang's longstanding disregard for its international commitments and apparent determination that the issue should be resolved bilaterally with Washington speak against the efficacy of UN involvement.
From the moment the present problem flared up in mid-October, the IAEA has requested clarifications and renewed commitments from North Korea, but Pyongyang's defiant posture and disregard for the IAEA have made it clear that it is not interested in tussling with the UN. On 24 December 2002, North Korea's ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned that: "There is no need for any third party to meddle in the nuclear issue on the peninsula. The issue should be settled between [North Korea] and the USA, the parties responsible for it. If the USA persistently tries to internationalise the pending issue between [North Korea] and the USA in a bid to flee from its responsibility, it will push the situation to an uncontrollable catastrophe."
In a parallel with the situation in Iraq in the 1990s, the security council may decide to impose sanctions that would be lifted if inspections find North Korea to be complying with its obligations. However, the IAEA proved ineffective in managing the Iraq case throughout the 1990s, and there is little reason to believe it would be any more effective in North Korea. If sanctions were imposed, some UN diplomats have hypothesised that the only way the IAEA could play a significant role would be to create a task force similar to the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC) that currently conducts inspections in Iraq.
393 of 1072 words