Today’s nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), if confirmed, is its second this year and the fifth since 2006. This is in clear violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions and in complete disregard of the repeated demands of the international community. It is a deeply troubling and regrettable act.
In Resolution 2270, the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the DPRK’s previous nuclear test conducted on 6 January this year. The Security Council also reaffirmed its decisions that the DPRK shall not conduct any further nuclear tests and shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and immediately cease all related activities.
I strongly urge the DPRK to fully implement all relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA.
The Agency continues to closely follow the DPRK nuclear issue. We remain ready to contribute to its peaceful resolution by resuming our verification activities in the country once a political agreement is reached among countries concerned.