Sec Of State Tillerson Asks China For Sanctions Against North Korea

- I shall now make a statement in my capacity
as Secretary of State of the United States.
I thank you for the opportunity
to address the Security Council.
According to UN Security Council Resolution 2321
the stated objective of this council
is North Korea's abandonment on its nuclear weapons
and ballistic missile programs.
For the past 20 years well-intentioned diplomatic efforts
to halt these programs have failed.
It is only by first dismantling them
that there can be peace, stability, and economic prosperity
for all of Northeast Asia.
With each successive detonation and missile test,
North Korea pushes Northeast Asia and the world
closer to instability and broader conflict.
The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack
on Seoul or Tokyo is real,
and it is likely only a matter of time
before North Korea develops the capability
to strike the U.S. Mainland.
Indeed, the D.P.R.K. has repeatedly claimed
it plans to conduct such a strike.
Given that rhetoric, the United States
cannot idly stand by, nor can other members
of this council who are within striking distance
of North Korean missiles.
Having for years displayed a pattern of behavior
that defies multiple UN Security Council resolutions,
including 2321, and 2270,
and erodes global progress on nuclear nonproliferation,
there's no reason to think that North Korea
will change its behavior under the current
multilateral sanctions framework.
For too long the international community has been reactive
in addressing North Korea.
Those days must come to an end.
Failing to act now
on the most pressing security issue in the world
may bring catastrophic consequences.
We have said this before and it bears repeating.
The policy of strategic patience is over.
Additional patience will only mean acceptance
of a nuclear North Korea.
The more we bide our time, the sooner we will run out of it.
In light of the growing threat,
the time has come for all of us to put new pressure
on North Korea to abandon its dangerous path.
I urge this council to act before North Korea does.
We must work together to adopt a new approach
and impose increased diplomatic and economic pressures
on the North Korean regime.
The new campaign the United States is embarking on
is driven by our own national security considerations
and it is welcomed by many nations
who are concerned for their own security and question
why North Korea clings to nuclear capabilities
for which it has no need.
Our goal is not regime change,
nor do we desire to threaten the North Korean people,
or destabilize the Asia Pacific region.
Over the years we have withdrawn our own nuclear weapons
from South Korea, and offered aid to North Korea
as proof of our intent to deescalate the situation
and normalize relations.
Since 1995, the United States has provided over $1.3 billion
in aid to North Korea, and we look forward to resuming
our contributions once the D.P.R.K. begins to dismantle
its nuclear weapons and missile technology programs.
The D.P.R.K. for its own sake
must dismantle its nuclear missile programs
if it wants to achieve the security, economic development,
and international recognition that that it seeks.
North Korea must understand that respect
will never follow recklessness.
North Korea must take concrete steps
to reduce the threat that its illegal weapons programs
pose to the United States and our allies
before we can even consider talks.
I propose all nations
take these three actions beginning today.
First, we call on UN member states to fully implement
the commitments they have made regarding North Korea.
This includes all measures required
in Resolutions 2321, and 2270.
Those nations which have not fully enforced
these resolutions fully discredit this body.
Second, we call on countries to suspend
or downgrade diplomatic relations with North Korea.
North Korea exploits its diplomatic privileges
to fund its illicit nuclear missile technology programs,
and constraining its diplomatic activity
will cut off a flow of needed resources.
In light of North Korea's recent actions,
normal relations with the D.P.R.K.
are simply not acceptable.
Third, we must increase North Korea's financial isolation.
We must levy new sanctions on D.P.R.K. entities
and individuals supporting its weapons and missile programs
and tighten those that are already in place.
The United States also would much prefer countries
and people in question to own up to their lapses
and correct their behavior themselves,
but we will not hesitate to sanction
third country entities and individuals
supporting the D.P.R.K.'s illegal activities.
We must bring maximum economic pressure
by severing trade relationships that directly fund
the D.P.R.K.'s nuclear missile program.
I call on the international community to suspend the flow
or North Korean guest workers
and to impose bans on North Korean imports, especially coal.
We must all do our share,
but China, accounting for 90% of North Korean trade,
China alone has economic leverage over Pyongyang
that is unique, and its role
is therefore particularly important.
The U.S. and China have held very productive exchanges
on this issue and we look forward to further actions
that build on what China has already done.
Lastly, as we have said before,
all options for responding to future provocation
must remain on the table.
Diplomatic and financial levers of power
will be backed up by willingness
to counteract North Korean aggression with military action,
if necessary.
We much prefer a negotiated solution to this problem,
but we are committed to defending ourselves
and our allies against North Korean aggression.
This new pressure campaign will be swiftly implemented
and painful to North Korean interest.
I realize some nations for which a relationship
with North Korea has been in some ways
a net positive may be disinclined
to implement the measures of pressure on North Korea,
but the catastrophic effects
of a North Korean nuclear strike
outweigh any economic benefits.
We must be willing to face the hard truths
and make hard choices right now
to prevent disastrous outcomes in the future.
Business as usual is not an option.
There is also a moral dimension to this problem.
Countries must know by now
that helping the North Korean regime
means enabling cruelty and suffering.
North Korea feeds billions of dollars into a nuclear program
it does not need, while its own people starve.
The regime's pursuit of nuclear weapons
does not serve its own national security
or the well-being of a people trapped in tyranny.
I ask the community of nations to help us preserve security
and protect human dignity.
In one of my first trips as America's Secretary of State,
I looked across the DMZ at the haunted land of North Korea.
Beyond the border is a nation of sorrow, frozen in time.
While the world sees the gleaming buildings of Pyongyang,
the blight of oppression and starvation
has swept this land for over 60 years.
But even though the present condition
of that country is bleak,
the United States believes in a future for North Korea.
These first steps toward a more hopeful future
will happen most quickly if other stakeholders
in the region and the global security join us.
For years, North Korea has been dictating the terms
of its dangerous course of action.
It is time for us to retake control of the situation.
We ask the members of this council and all other partners
to implement a new strategy to denuclearize North Korea.
Thank you.

Sec Of State Tillerson Asks China For Sanctions Against North Korea - Full U.N. Speech

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