Minister Kang Kyung-wha Urges Strengthening NPT-Centered Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Regime... Calls for Support of 'Peace on the Korean Peninsula'

Minister Kang Attends 3rd Stockholm Initiative Ministerial Meeting... First Ministerial-Level Multilateral Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the evening of the 6th, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended the '3rd Stockholm Initiative Meeting on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation,' the first ministerial-level multilateral meeting in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation in 2021, via video conference.

The Stockholm Initiative meeting, attended by 16 non-nuclear-weapon states including South Korea, was held to discuss progress in nuclear disarmament and ways to strengthen the NPT regime ahead of the NPT 50th anniversary review conference scheduled for August. The Stockholm Initiative includes the three co-chair countries of the third meeting?Jordan, Sweden, and Germany?as well as participants from South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Spain, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Canada, and Finland.

The participating countries emphasized that for the international nuclear non-proliferation regime to be strengthened, the NPT 50th anniversary review conference in August must be successful. They particularly stressed the importance of agreeing on concrete measures in the field of nuclear disarmament, including the extension and possible expansion of the soon-to-expire New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the U.S. and Russia. Accordingly, the participants agreed to submit specific proposals (stepping stones) for nuclear disarmament progress, adopted at the 2nd ministerial meeting, at the upcoming NPT review conference.

The proposed nuclear disarmament action measures include: recognition of the need for nuclear-weapon states to refrain from using nuclear weapons and to make progress in nuclear disarmament; discussions on the extension and possible expansion of the U.S.-Russia New START treaty; reduction of nuclear arsenals by nuclear-weapon states and discussions on next-generation arms control agreements; dialogues on nuclear policies between nuclear-weapon states and between nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states; enhancement of nuclear transparency by nuclear-weapon states; support for the establishment of a Middle East nuclear-weapon-free zone; efforts to reduce nuclear threats; improvement of communication channels for crisis situations; efforts to ban nuclear testing and to bring into force the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT); initiation of negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT); development of nuclear disarmament verification capabilities; increased engagement of youth and women; and submission of NPT implementation reports.

In her keynote remarks, Minister Kang emphasized that the international community must strengthen the NPT-centered nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime to achieve the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and expressed the Korean government's commitment to contribute to this effort.

Minister Kang stated, "Dialogue among nuclear-weapon states is important for progress in nuclear disarmament," adding, "We must seek effective progress in nuclear disarmament considering the international security environment." She particularly introduced that "the Korean government led the adoption of the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution on 'Youth and Disarmament and Non-Proliferation' in 2019," and added, "We will continue to implement various youth programs to raise awareness of the importance of the NPT regime for future generations."

Furthermore, Minister Kang explained the Korean government's efforts in the Korean Peninsula peace process aimed at complete denuclearization and the establishment of lasting peace on the peninsula, and called for the continued support of the international community regarding the North Korean nuclear issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.