Muhammad Muzahidul Islam :
Recent missile activities of North Korea include the launch that was conducted on April 2, 2024. It was Hwasong-16B.
The other was on April 22 of the same year. These missile activities surely have adverse impacts spoiling the stability and peace in the region.
They pose a threat to international peace and security. Do these activities have impacts on the human rights of the people of North Korea? The mandate of the UN Panel of Experts (North Korea) to monitor the implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions has not been extended recently – does it mean that the relevant UN sanctions that were imposed earlier on North Korea have been lifted?
The Hwasong-16B was launched on April 2. According to an article (Second Flight of North Korea’s Solid IRBM Also Second Flight of HGV, BY: VANN H. VAN DIEPEN, APRIL 5, 2024) “On April 2, North Korea conducted the second flight test of a solid-propellant intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which it designated the Hwasong-16B (HS-16B).
The missile carried a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) payload akin to one first flown in September 2021 on a liquid-propellant booster. The booster portion of the April test appears to have succeeded, but the success of the HGV payload is unclear.”
Let me turn to the missile that was launched on 22 April. According to the Japan Times (North Korea fires off salvo of several short-range ballistic missiles, BY JESSE JOHNSON, STAFF WRITER, Apr 22, 2024) ‘North Korea fired several short-range missiles from the Pyongyang area on Monday, the South Korean military said, in the latest salvo launch by the nuclear-armed country.
“The ROK military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for further launches, and is closely sharing information on North Korean ballistic missiles with U.S. and Japanese authorities to maintain full readiness,” the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.’
The UN Security Council has the mandate to take effective actions against activities that pose a threat to international peace and security. Article 41 of the UN Charter empowers the Security Council to impose sanctions through its resolutions.
The creation of independent monitoring mechanisms is also within the scope of the mandate of the Security Council; the UN Panel of Experts (North Korea) was one of those.
Recently the UN Security Council has failed to extend the mandate of the said panel of experts. According to the UN Press (SC/15648, 28 March 2024) “The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended until 30 April 2025 the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea due to a veto cast by the Russian Federation – a permanent member of the Council – while numerous speakers underscored that Moscow’s veto fuels suspicion and weakens the global non-proliferation architecture.”
Al Jazeera, on this issue, further provides that(Russia blocks renewal of UN panel monitoring North Korea sanctions, 29 Mar 2024) ‘China abstained from Thursday’s vote, while the remaining 13 UN Security Council members voted in favour.
On Friday, said that it opposed “blindly supporting sanctions” on North Korea. “A political solution is the only way,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, when asked why Beijing abstained, adding that a “showdown at the UN Security Council is not conducive to its authority”.
“Russia’s actions today have cynically undermined international peace and security, all to advance the corrupt bargain that Moscow has struck with the DPRK,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The panel reports twice a year to the Security Council and recommends action to improve the implementation of the sanctions that were first imposed in 2006 and have been gradually strengthened. Its mandate expires at the end of April.’
One could emphasise the point that the sanctions that were imposed earlier have not been lifted and have been in force since 2006 and will remain in force; the mandate of the said panel will come to an end on April 30.
In response to the missile activities that were conducted by North Korea on 2 and 22 April 2024, some states of the international community expressed their reactions.
Let me share with you the reaction of the UK. Its Foreign, commonwealth and Development Office issued a statement on 2 April activity in the following language: “An FCDO spokesperson said: North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on 2 April is a breach of multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs).
Unlawful ballistic missile launches continue to destabilise the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula.
The UK strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further provocations, return to dialogue and take credible steps towards denuclearisation.” The 22 April activity was also responded to with a similar language.
It is important to note that missile activities have adverse impacts not only on the peace and stability of the region but also on the human rights of the people of North Korea.
It may be a clever technique of the authoritarian regime to divert the attention of the world community to a situation of conflict from the basic and fundamental needs of the North Korean people excusing the so-called state sovereignty, and bypassing the democracy and rule of law.
(The writer is a barrister-at-law, human rights activist and an advocate at the Supreme Court
of Bangladesh).
