‘Six-Party Talks’ for peace in Korean peninsula

Barrister Muhammad Muzahidul Islam :
UN Security Council is mandated to take actions against the activities that pose a threat to the international peace and security. The proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery have been seen, by UN Security Council, as a threat to international peace and security. The nuclear and missile test activities of North Korea that have been conducted since 2006 have been responded through the UN Security Council resolutions. UN Security Council has imposed sanctions under article 41 of the UN Charter. UN Security Council sanctions measures are understood to be preventive and not the punitive. What is the important option for which North Korea has been called for to join in all the sanctions resolutions that have been adopted on DPRK since 2006?
All the sanctions resolutions that have been adopted on the DPRK since 2006 have left a room of negotiations and dialogues for the key actors for the peace in the Korean peninsula. The “Six-Party Talks” has been seen to be important in all those resolutions. As this is very important for the sustained peace in the Korean peninsula, North Korea, as a key actor, has been called for to join.
The ‘Six-Party Talks’ began in 2003 involving China, United States, North and South Korea, Japan, and Russia. It was aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program through negotiations. The negotiations reached an agreement in September 2005. However, Pyongyang walked out of negotiations in 2009.
Emphasizing on the ‘Six-Party Talks’ paragraph 26 of the resolution 2397(2017)states that ” Reaffirms its support for the Six Party Talks, calls for their resumption, and reiterates its support for the commitments set forth in the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 issued by China, the DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States, including that the goal of the Six-Party Talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and the return of the DPRK to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards at an early date, bearing in mind the rights and obligations of States parties to the NPT and underlining the need for all States parties to the NPT to continue to comply with their Treaty obligations, that the United States and the DPRK undertook to respect each other’s sovereignty and exist peacefully together, that the Six Parties undertook to promote economic cooperation, and all other relevant commitments”.
It must be noted that in the absence of North Korean commitments, the resumption of the ‘Six Party Talks’ would not bring any positive results. All members of the United Nations including North Korea must have respect to the provisions of its constitution (UN Charter). In order to join the ‘Six-Party Talks’ the relevant participants including North Korea must have commitments, first, to refrain from the activities that have potential to spoil the peace process and pose a threat to international peace and security, and those not conducive to the dialogues.
Finally, I would like to pull a conclusion saying that UN Security Council intended the denuclearization and the sustained peace in the Korean peninsula through its sanctions resolutions. And that is why an option of dialogues has been left open in all the sanctions resolutions since 2006 by calling North Korea to join the ‘Six-Party Talks’. It is also the expectation of the peoples of the United Nations that the participants of the talks would come forward with the conviction that they are to reach an effective peace solution in the Korean peninsula.

(The writer is a Human Rights Activist and an Advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh).