Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
March 25, 2022
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Madam President.
The United States would like to express its appreciation to Council members for this mandate renewal and for the important discussions that brought us here. The 1718 Committee Panel of Experts continues to be indispensable in investigating the DPRK’s unlawful weapons program and sanctions evasion efforts. Despite the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic, the panel has nevertheless continued to effectively monitor the implementation of these sanctions. We remain grateful to the panel for their invaluable contributions to the 1718 regime.
Colleagues, I have often repeated the importance of effectively overseeing implementation of the 1718 sanctions regime in this Chamber, which is made possible by the critical work of the panel. This is particularly essential in light of the DPRK’s escalatory provocations since the beginning of the year. There’s more that we could and should do to empower the panel and ensure their work can be best leveraged by all Member States to fully implement the relevant Security Council resolutions. Although we were unable to come to agreement on how to do this in the resolution we voted on today, I look forward to collaborating with my fellow Council members and all Member States toward our shared objective of holding the DPRK accountable for its unlawful behavior.
I want to end by expressing the United States’ concern over the report leakage – a concern I know many Council members share – and I hope that all parties protect the report until it is publicly released moving forward. The United States also asks that the panel deliver the incident report requested by multiple Council members on the DPRK’s unlawful ballistic missile launches earlier this year. I look forward to working with the Council to continue supporting the panel’s mandate and fully implementing the international sanctions regime addressing the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile program.
Thank you, Madam President.
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