Canada’s FM Baird Welcomes Expanded Sanctions Against North Korea

7 March 2013 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:

“Canada welcomes the expanded sanctions against North Korea adopted today at the United Nations Security Council and is proud to have been a co-sponsor.

“This response to North Korea’s reckless nuclear test in early February sends a clear and strong message to those responsible in Pyongyang.

“The true travesty is that the North Korean people continue to starve and are denied basic human rights while the regime in Pyongyang squanders limited resources.

“The international community had clearly warned North Korea that its belligerent actions would bear consequences.

“It is high time that the Government of North Korea reverse this dangerous course, abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and focus its scarce resources on the living conditions of its people.

“Canada will continue to work with our international partners to pursue all appropriate actions against the rogue regime in North Korea.”

For more information on the extent of the sanctions and the available exemptions Canada has already imposed against North Korea, please see North Korea: Overview of New Sanctions and a May 2010 statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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• Canada Unequivocally Condemns North Korean Nuclear Test (CanKor.ca)
• Canadian FM Baird Strongly Condemns Actions of North Korean Regime (CanKor.ca)
• Canadian Foreign Minister urges North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons program (CanKor.ca)
• Canada Warns North Korea Against Provocation (CanKor.ca)
• Canada “Unreservedly” Condemns Failed DPRK Rocket Launch (CanKor.ca)
• North Korea ‘delights’ in provoking: Harper (CanKor.ca)
• Canada boycotts UN body over North Korea (CanKor.ca)
  

Canada Unequivocally Condemns North Korean Nuclear Test

[Just in case you missed it, here is the predictable reaction from Canada’s Foreign Minister to the detonation of the DPRK nuclear test last week. Pity the civil servants who have to draft these expressions of outrage! How many different ways are there to string together the words reckless, provocative, serious, misguided, unconscionable, and irresponsible? After decades of condemnation, how many teeth remain in the concepts of rogue regime, disregard for the global will, threat to peace and security, squandering of resources, and sanctions? The one novel piece of news in this statement: apparently the Government of Canada actually had hopes Kim Junior would disown the legacy of his father. Or is this merely another part of the liturgy? –EW]

February 12, 2013 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:

“The North Korean regime’s reckless disregard for the global will is again on display.

“This test—North Korea’s third—is provocative and marks a serious, misguided threat to regional peace and security.

“What makes such actions even more unconscionable is the fact that the North Korean people starve and are denied their basic human dignity while the Pyongyang regime squanders limited resources.

“While we had hoped the passing of dictator Kim Jong-il would have closed a sad chapter in North Korea, we are disappointed that his son has continued the irresponsible path of placing weapons before the well-being of people.

“Canada will work with our international partners to pursue all appropriate actions and sanctions against the rogue regime in North Korea.”

Related articles

• Canadian FM Baird Strongly Condemns Actions of North Korean Regime (CanKor.ca)
• Canadian Foreign Minister urges North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons program (CanKor.ca)
• Canada Warns North Korea Against Provocation (CanKor.ca)
• Canada “Unreservedly” Condemns Failed DPRK Rocket Launch (CanKor.ca)
• North Korea ‘delights’ in provoking: Harper (CanKor.ca)
• Canada boycotts UN body over North Korea (CanKor.ca)

Canadian Foreign Minister urges North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons program

[Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued a statement on 23 January 2013, following the passing of UNSC Resolution 2087. This text is taken from the website of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. –CanKor]

Canadian FM John Baird (Photo by AFP)

“Canada is deeply concerned about North Korea’s missile tests and apparent plan to conduct more nuclear tests. We urge the regime to abandon any such plans.

“The regime in Pyongyang has repeatedly violated its international obligations and poses a grave threat to the security and stability of the region, even as the people of North Korea starve and suffer.

“Further defiance of its non-proliferation obligations will lead to further consequences: Canada stands ready to work with the international community to take further measures if the regime continues to demonstrate total disregard for its people by choosing to fund military and nuclear programs.

“We welcome the United Nations Security Council’s latest sanctions against North Korea. These have already been imposed under Canadian law.

“Canada urges the regime in North Korea to abandon its reckless nuclear and missile programs and invest its limited resources in meeting the basic needs of its people.”

Related articles

• North Korea’s highest state body refutes UN Security Council resolution (CanKor.ca)
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• CSIS annual report worries about DPRK security threat (CanKor.ca)
• Canada “Unreservedly” Condemns Failed DPRK Rocket Launch (CanKor.ca)
• North Korea ‘delights’ in provoking: Harper (CanKor.ca)

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.”

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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.”

Canada “Unreservedly” Condemns Failed DPRK Rocket Launch

[The following is a statement by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird as published on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade website. –CanKor]

Baird Strongly Condemns North Korea’s Rocket Launch

April 12, 2012 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:

“Canada unreservedly condemns North Korea’s rocket launch of earlier today.

“This type of brazen behaviour is entirely reckless and provocative. It ignores not only international will but also the basic needs of the North Korean people.

“While the average North Korean starves and struggles, the country’s rulers squander scarce internal resources and external goodwill.

“Actions like today’s will only further isolate this rogue regime and keep North Koreans from the better, brighter existence they deserve but are being denied by those in power.

“Canada will continue to work with its international partners with a view to securing peace and prosperity on the entire Korean peninsula.”

Canada remains gravely concerned about North Korea’s aggressive activities, including missile tests and nuclear weapons development. Canada’s goal is to see North Korea resume adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and comply fully with its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In August 2011, Canada imposed extensive economic sanctions against North Korea, which will remain in place until North Korea makes significant progress toward denuclearization and its aggressive activities cease. These sanctions are in addition to the sanctions resulting from UN Security Council resolutions that explicitly prohibit North Korea from conducting launches using ballistic missile technology.

Let them eat sanctions, by Erich Weingartner

Photo by Erich Weingartner

On 15 August—the day that both Koreas celebrate their liberation from Japanese colonial rule—the Canadian Government enacted new sanctions against the DPRK. According to John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, these are additional punishments “in a series of steps our government has taken in recent years to forcefully declare Canada’s opposition to aggressive actions by the current North Korean regime.”

The new round of sanctions bans all exports and imports, including technical data, to North Korea, as well as all new investment in the country. It also bars the provision of financial services to North Korea and to persons in North Korea, although personal remittances of less than $1,000 continue to be permitted. Presumably this is to allow North Korean refugees and defectors to support families back home.

“This is a regime that shows contempt for international will through its belligerent actions,” adds Minister Baird, “and that chooses to fund military and nuclear programs while the basic needs of the North Korean population go unmet.”

Reaction to Canadian boycott of UN Conference on Disarmament by Dwain Epps and Erich Weingartner

[This discussion was originally posted as comments under “Canada boycotts UN body over North Korea“. However we felt these opinions by CanKor Brain Trust member Dwain Epps and CanKor Editor-in-Chief Erich Weingartner were substantive enough to deserve a blog post of their own. –CanKor.]

Conference on Disarmament - 2011 Session (UN photo/Pierre Albouy)

Dwain Epps writes:

One can only lament this announcement that comes as yet another sign that the present Canadian Government has no mind of its own and is apparently either unaware of or repudiates Canada’s distinguished past in international relations. Though Canada has never been a declared Non-Aligned nation, in the midst of the Cold War it played a critical role as one of the “Middle Powers” serving as a bridge between the two great nuclear powers. It was widely recognized as a constructive player in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in the 1970s, and again in the early 1980s it provided a bridge during the nuclear weapons standoff when the great powers stubbornly refused to negotiate.

Canada boycotts UN body over North Korea

[The following story is taken from the CBC.ca website. Canada had already called for the DPRK to step aside from the rotating chairmanship of the Geneva-based UN Conference on Disarmament. Canada’s Ambassador Marius Grinius had been chairing the Committee earlier this year. –CanKor.]

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird (photo by Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Canada is boycotting a UN body dedicated to disarmament to protest against North Korea being named its chair, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Monday.

The Conference on Disarmament, where UN members negotiate disarmament and other arms control agreements, is heavily focused on the prevention of a nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament.

“North Korea is simply not a credible chair at this United Nations body. The regime is a major proliferator of nuclear weapons and its non-compliance with its disarmament obligations goes against the fundamental principle of this committee,” Baird said during a call with media to make the announcement.

“North Korea’s chairmanship undermines the integrity of both the disarmament framework and of the United Nations, and Canada simply will not support that.”