한미 양국 정상은 16일(이하 현지시간) 백악관에서 열린 정상회담에서 강력한 대북제재 등 북한ㆍ북핵문제 대응 공조 방안을 담은 첫 ‘공동성명’(Joint Statement)을 채택했다. 미국을 공식 방문 중인 박근혜 대통령은 이날 오전 버락 오바마 미국 대통령과 워싱턴 백악관에서 단독정상회담과 확대오찬회담을 가진 후 공동기자회견을 통해 북한ㆍ북핵문제에 대한 내용을 담은 공동성명을 발표했다. 두 나라 정상이 북한 문제와 관련해 공동성명서를 채택한 것은 이번이 처음이다 평화적인 북한 비핵화를 위한 전략적 대화를 긴밀하게 진행한다는 두 나라 정상의 공통된 입장이 반영된 것으로 관측된다.

<다음은 공동성명 전문(영문)>

2015 Republic of Korea and United States of America Joint Statement on North Korea

On October 16th 2015, President Park Geun hye ofthe RepublicofKoreaandPresidentBarackObamaoftheUnitedStatesofAmericaagreedtothefollowing.

The Republic of Korea-United States alliance remains committed to countering the threat to peace and security posed by North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as other provocations. We will maintain our robust deterrence posture and continue to modernize our alliance and enhance our close collaboration to better respond to all forms of North Korean provocations.

The Republic of Korea and the United States share deep concern about the continued advancement of North Korea’s UN-proscribed nuclear and missile capabilities and agree to address the North Korean nuclear problem with utmost urgency and determination.

We reaffirm our commitment to our common goal, shared by the international community, to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea in a peaceful manner. North Korea’s continuing development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs is an ongoing violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and is contrary to North Korea’s commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks. We strongly urge North Korea to immediately and fully comply with its international obligations and commitments.

We oppose any actions by North Korea that raise tensions or violate UNSC resolutions. In particular, if North Korea carries out a launch using ballistic missile technology or a nuclear test, it will face consequences, including further significant measures by the UN Security Council. In this regard, we are committed to working with the international community to ensure the effective and transparent implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions, including sanctions measures, concerning North Korea, and we encourage all states to exercise strict vigilance against North Korea’s prohibited activities.

The Republic of Korea and the United States maintain no hostile policy towards North Korea and remain open to dialogue with North Korea to achieve our shared goal of denuclearization. Recognizing the common interests of our Six-Party Talks partners in the denuclearization of North Korea, we will continue to strengthen our coordination with China and the other parties in order to bring North Korea, which has refused all offers of denuclearization dialogue, back to credible and meaningful talks as soon as possible.

We reaffirm that we will never accept North Korea as a nuclear-weapon state, and that its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons is incompatible with its economic development goals. Along with the rest of the international community, we stand ready to offer a brighter future to North Korea, if North Korea demonstrates a genuine willingness to completely abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and agrees to abide by its international obligations and commitments.

The United States appreciates President Park’s tireless efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, including through repeated overtures to North Korea, and welcomes President Park’s principled approach that resulted in a peaceful resolution of the August tensions. The United States will continue to strongly support her vision of a peacefully unified Korean Peninsula, as envisaged in her Dresden address. We will intensify high-level strategic consultations to create a favorable environment for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.

The Republic of Korea and the United States join the international community in condemning the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea as documented in the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report. We look forward to supporting the work of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Seoul). We remain dedicated to working with the international community to improve the human rights situation in North Korea and ensure accountability for human rights violations, as well as to improve the livelihood of the people in North Korea.


bonsang@heraldcorp.com