IAEA Board of Governors
Agenda item 7(b): Application of safeguards in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
5 March 2025
Statement by H.E Ambassador Ian Biggs, Governor and Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Chair
Australia is gravely concerned by, and condemns in the strongest terms, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK)’s ongoing pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems in clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Evidence of further developments, including the DPRK’s preparedness to conduct a nuclear test at the Punggye-ri site, and indications of continued operation of enrichment facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson complexes as observed by the IAEA, is deeply troubling. We are concerned by the indicators of a new processing campaign as reported by the Director General in his opening statement.
Images recently published by the DPRK, of an undeclared enrichment facility and so-called “nuclear weapons institute”, again demonstrate the DPRK’s blatant disregard for the international non-proliferation regime.
Chair
In the face of these developments, it is imperative that the international community stays united on the goal of the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the DPRK. The IAEA community has been an important voice in international efforts toward this goal, through the adoption by consensus, for many years now, of the General Conference resolution on the Implementation of the NPT Safeguards in the DPRK, despite unfortunate disassociation by one delegation last year – through supporting the Secretariat’s vital work to keep track of the DPRK’s continued misuse of its formerly safeguarded facilities.
Allowing the DPRK to evade accountability for its actions would be a direct threat to international security, eroding decades of collective effort toward non-proliferation. We reiterate that any political, military, or economic support provided toward the DPRK’s illegal weapons programs, constitutes a breach of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Australia utterly rejects the DPRK’s assertion that it is a nuclear-weapon State and any attempts by the DPRK or others to normalise its illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons. The DPRK cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear‑weapon State under the NPT.
Chair
Dialogue and diplomacy provide the only path to achieving enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula, on the basis of the DPRK’s return to full compliance with its NPT safeguards obligations and cooperation with the Agency as a non-nuclear-weapon State.
We urge the DPRK to comply with its obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions, refrain from further nuclear tests and to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty without further delay.
Australia commends the Agency’s work to keep track of the DPRK’s nuclear activities and maintain enhanced readiness to promptly initiate verification and monitoring activities in the DPRK. We look forward to the Director General’s continued reporting to the Board on this matter, and the Board’s continued attention on this issue.
Thank you.