Canadian FM Baird Strongly Condemns Actions of North Korean Regime

“Reckless, wilful, provocative and reprehensible” are some of the adjectives used by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in a statement issued on 11 December 2012, soon after the DPRK announced its satellite launch. The text is found on the website of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and reads as follows:

“Canada unequivocally condemns North Korea’s provocative ballistic missile test.

“North Korea’s reckless actions clearly demonstrate its wilful defiance of its international obligations, outlined in numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“The regime in Pyongyang is a grave threat to the security and stability of the region and beyond.

“With this latest launch, the rogue regime has once again shown total disregard for its people by choosing to fund military and nuclear programs while the basic needs of the North Korean people go unmet.

“Canada urges North Korea to cease this reckless behaviour and to live up to its international obligations.

“Canada stands with the international community in condemning this reprehensible act.”

Related articles

• Canada Warns North Korea Against Provocation (CanKor.ca)
• Surprise! We Have Satellite(s)! (CanKor.ca)
• Understanding North Korea’s next satellite launch, by Tad Farrell (CanKor.ca)
• Canada condemns North Korea’s launch of long-range rocket (macleans.ca)

Canada Warns North Korea Against Provocation

A statement warning North Korea about the planned launch of a “long-range ballistic missile” was issued by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on 3 December 2012. The text is found on the website of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. It reads as follows:

John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada (Photo: Wikipedia)

“We are extremely concerned about North Korea’s plan to test a long-range ballistic missile. 

“Canada strongly warns North Korea against this provocation, which clearly violates its obligations under successive UN Security Council resolutions and constitutes a threat to regional peace and security. 

“While the North Korean people struggle to find the basic necessities to survive, their government has turned a blind eye to their plight and instead chooses to advance its military capability. This is regrettable and completely unacceptable. 

“Canada will be working with like-minded countries and regional players to persuade North Korean officials to abandon their military ambitions and tend to the pressing needs of the North Korean people.”

Statement by the President of the United Nations Security Council

[The following is Statement number S/PRST/2012/13 taken from the UN Security Council website. Distr.: General, 16 April 2012, Original: English. -CanKor]

(photo by UN)

At the 6752nd meeting of the Security Council, held on Monday, 16 April 2012, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council strongly condemns the 13 April 2012 (local time) launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

“The Security Council underscores that this satellite launch, as well as any launch that uses ballistic missile technology, even if characterized as a satellite launch or space launch vehicle, is a serious violation of Security Council resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009).

“The Security Council deplores that such a launch has caused grave security concerns in the region.

Why the “Satellite” Launch Will Be Successful – and Why That Should Worry Us

Well, that was fast.

Barely two weeks after what seemed to be a good first step in the right direction, the North Koreans announced that they would test-fire a satellite launching rocket sometime in mid-April.

Having taken a course called “Outer Space and Security” in grad school many moons ago (where my final term paper was coincidentally on the North Korean ballistic missile program), I happen to know a little bit about the vagaries of ballistic missile technology. As reported en masse over the weekend, ballistic missiles/space rockets happen to fall in the same “dual use” quandary as nuclear energy. Namely, that the same technologies that can help a country send a satellite into space can also help a country strike another country, such as the United States, thousands of miles away.

So really, what are the North Koreans thinking?