At the UN, the British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who holds the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November, told journalists that he was having consultations among Security Council members on Korea and the consultations would continue. It was Wednesday afternoon at the stakeout at the UN Security Council. It was the day before the American celebration of Thanksgiving. The Security Council had met for consultations on another matter, but a number of journalists came to the stakeout to hear if the Security Council had any plans about what it would do about the increased hostilities on the Korean peninsula. The British Ambassador didn’t take any questions from journalists so there was little communication about what was being planned at the Security Council.

Ban Ki-moon’s Response

Just a few hours after the hostilities had erupted between the two Koreas on November 23, UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon… weiter lesen

The challenge of Security Council reform has been on the agenda at the United Nations for decades with little obvious effect on the workings of the Security Council itself.(1)

But what happens when an action of the Security Council is an improvement over past Security Council practices and presents an important model for conflict resolution in line with the obligations of the Charter? Will there be recognition of the peaceful direction that the action points in or will it be ignored and members of the Security Council revert back to the practice of the past?

The situation I am referring to is the consideration by the Security Council of the sinking of the South Korean naval warship, the Cheonan. The dispute over the sinking of the Cheonan was brought to the Security Council in June and a Presidential Statement was agreed to in July.

An account of some… weiter lesen

The US policy toward North Korea since Barack Obama has assumed the US presidency is very different from the promises of engagement which he made during his election campaign. This policy presents a striking example of the disparity between the preelection promises and the action taken thus far during the Obama presidency.

On the first day of the new administration, sanctions were authorized against three North Korean firms under the Arms Export Control Act, along with several nonproliferation executive orders. The three firms were KOMID, which had been sanctioned by other administrations,  Sino-Ki and Moksong Trading Company, which were being sanctioned for the first time. (1)

The hostile direction of Obama’s policy, however, has been signaled most clearly by the change made when the new administration failed to reappoint Christopher Hill to his position as Undersecretary of State for East Asia and the head of the US negotiation team for… weiter lesen