North Korea UN Abassador talks Nuclear Arms Race

North Korea’s UN Ambassador said yesterday that “If the U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield to protect Europe against a possible attack by Iran are realized, it will spark a new nuclear arms race”.

North Korea’s withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the global anti-nuclear weapons pact) in 2003 and tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009. This prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Pyongyang to pressure it to end its missile and nuclear programs.

The Treaty for Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was created to limit the spread or proliferation of nuclear weapons. The treaty took effect on March 5, 1970 and currently has 189 states party to the treaty, five of which are recognized as nuclear weapon states:

United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China   who are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The four non-parties to the treaty are known or suspected to possess nuclear weapons:

India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.   North Korea violated the treaty and withdrew from it in 2003.

The treaty is sometimes referred to as a three-pillar system with balance among them:  non-proliferation
disarmament
right to peacefully use nuclear technology

The treaty is reviewed every five years by the Parties to the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.