'North Korea must be forced to abandon chemical weapons'

Ahmet Uzumcu, the director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times on the sidelines of the Seoul Defense Dialogue at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

By Jun Ji-hye

The international community should work together to ensure North Korea is obliged to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that calls for destroying such munitions and never producing them again, said the head of an international chemical weapons watchdog.

The U.N.-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), set up in 1997 in The Hague, is the implementing body of the CWC, which entered into force in 1997 with four key provisions ― destroying all existing chemical weapons, preventing new weapons from reemerging, providing assistance and protection to states parties against chemical threats, and fostering international cooperation to strengthen implementation of the CWC and promote the peaceful use of chemistry.

The OPCW Director-General, Ahmet Uzumcu, said in an interview with The Korea Times that whatever resolution the international community is eventually able to achieve on the North's nuclear capability, it must also oblige the regime to join the CWC as chemical weapons are not a strategic option for anyone.

The interview took place on Sept. 8 on the sidelines of the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) that kicked off on Sept. 7 for a three-day run with representatives from 33 nations and five international bodies.

Uzumcu said the organization has not been able to confirm Pyongyang's chemical weapons capabilities as the regime is not a member of the convention yet, but it is believed that the isolated state does possess such weapons.

"Every state, which joins the CWC, has the obligation to declare whether it has a chemical weapons program and if it has some chemical weapon stockpiles and production capabilities. The organization has the task to verify whether declarations are accurate and complete," he said. "North Korea is not yet a member of the CWC, therefore we are not able to confirm the information which is available publicly. But looking at the public information, it seems that North Korea does possess chemical weapon stockpiles, and the estimates are around 3,000 metric tons."

The Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) noted in December last year that the North is thought to be among the world's largest possessors of chemical weapons, ranking third after the United States and Russia, though the regime claims it does not possess such weapons.

The NTI added that Pyongyang is believed to be capable of deploying its stockpile of chemical agents through a variety of means, including field artillery, multiple rocket launchers, Scud and Rodong ballistic missiles, aircraft and unconventional means.

In 2012, Seoul's Ministry of National Defense also estimated that the isolated state possessed between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons of chemical weapons.

Uzumcu said, "It is also mentioned that North Korea has production facilities for several kinds of chemical weapons, and the number is mentioned as 16 to 18. We will only know whether this public information is correct or not when North Korea joins the convention."

The carreer diplomat continued that the OPCW has made various efforts for several years to bring the North to the CWC including having made public appeals and written letters to the regime's foreign ministers together with the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"I also sent letters to their head of state. But all those unfortunately were unanswered," he said. "We are going to continue those efforts. We also expect that our member states will continue to put some pressure on North Korea. They should urge the North Koreans to review their position in regard to the CWC."

As of today, the OPCW has 192 member states, who are working together to achieve a world free of chemical weapons, but four nations _ North Korea, Egypt, Israel and South Sudan _ have yet to join the CWC.

The OPCW head said that from the organization's point of view, it does not make any sense to stay away from the CWC, urging nations that remain outside of the convention to join it without delay and comply with the obligation to eliminate chemical weapon stockpiles and never develop and produce them again.

He said the organization has been requesting the states' parties, especially those which have some relations and contacts with North Korea, to use their influence to convince the North to join the convention.

"This is the only way we can actually convince the few states which remain outside of OPCW to join," he said.

In particular, Myanmar, which became the 191st state party to the CWC last year, is raising hope that the country might be able to act as a communication bridge between the North and the OPCW as Yangon and Pyongyang are known to have maintained close diplomatic relations. When Myanmar joined the CWC, the OPCW head said that the country's membership will significantly strengthen the global prohibition against chemical weapons, especially in Asia.

Uzumcu pointed out that chemical weapons are inhumane and should not have been developed or used.

"Unfortunately in history, we have seen that they were used excessively during WWI," he said. "But after this experience, the international community decided to ban the development and use forever. All these efforts were culminated in developing and putting in force the CWC in 1997."

Since 1997, an increasing number of countries have joined the convention and implemented it fully, he said, adding that, "This included the development and the testing of them."

Regarding allegations that the reclusive state has tested chemical weapons on human beings such as political prisoners, he said, "It is unacceptable that some countries including North Korea continue to develop such weapons, especially testing them on human beings."

He stressed that once a country joins the CWC, the OPCW provides a number of opportunities to train expert chemists on the peaceful use of chemistry as well as opportunities to receive and use certain chemical materials.

"States that are not party to the convention cannot benefit from such trade," he said. "I think being part of such treaties and international instruments for arms control and disarmament means to be integrated into the international community, so becoming a respected partner of the international community. I think this is the main reason for any country to join the CWC."

He added that the North, by committing itself to the obligations of the CWC, will demonstrate that it is becoming a peace-seeking country, which will be welcomed by the whole international community.

In 2013, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel peace prize in recognition of its hazardous mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapon stocks as well as 16 years of wider global efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

In a keynote speech given to the opening ceremony of the Seoul Defense Dialogue on Sept. 8, Uzumcu said the mission to remove and eliminate Syria's chemical weapons most recently attested to the resilience of the convention.

"It significantly reinforced the CWC by extending, and consolidating, the rules governing its implementation, and made it more responsive to the contingencies," he said. "This has included how the OPCW has addressed allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria through its fact-finding mission, as well as efforts to engage Syrian authorities to resolve outstanding issues related to the declaration they submitted to the OPCW."

Uzumcu assumed office as director-general of the OPCW in July 2010.

He previously served as the permanent representative of Turkey to the U.N. Office in Geneva from 2006 to 2010.