Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today said that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should heed the call of the international community and abandon its nuclear weapons program before the matter is formally taken up and action is taken by the United Nations Security Council.  The Secretary made this call after the Security Council declined to issue a statement condemning the nuclear weapons policies of the DPRK.  The draft statement was proposed by the US.

“I believe that international pressure should be brought to bear on the DPRK, to emphasize the seriousness of this matter.  The Security Council statement proposed by the US would have been an important contribution to heightening this pressure,” the Secretary said.

He added, however, that he also believes that the non-adoption of the statement provides a significant opportunity for the DPRK to meet all of us half-way by engaging in more sustained and genuine multi-party dialogue towards resolving the situation in the Korean peninsula, before action is taken in the context of the United Nations Security Council.

“In any event, the Security Council should be prepared to tackle this issue on its agenda.  I believe that the issue of the Korean peninsula might be one of the major issues before the Security Council for the coming months.”

The Philippines is the sole candidate for the Asian seat in the Security Council for the term 2004-2005 and has been endorsed by the Asian Group.

The Secretary also said that he had intended to accept an official invitation to visit the DPRK, but that “I would like to see more improvement in the efforts of the DPRK to promote peaceful multi-party dialogue and a clearer intention to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions before I visit, so that our discussion will be far more fruitful.” END.