Democratic People's Republic of Korea

In January 2003, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) officially withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), becoming the first and only signatory country to ever do so. Six-Party (US, China, Russia, South Korea, DPRK, and Japan) Talks began in August 2003, aimed at getting the DPRK to end its nuclear weapons program and re-join the NPT in return for assistance and security guarantees. Four rounds of talks took place between 2003 and 2005, resulting in a September 2005 announcement that DPRK agreed to a process to end its nuclear program, re-join the NPT, and allow IAEA monitors to return. However, negotiations were suspended in November 2005, following the US imposition of unilateral financial sanctions against Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macau bank the US accused of engaging in money laundering and counterfeiting activities and in which DPRK had $25 million. In February 2006, High-level talks between Japan and the DPRK, the first since 2003, failed to yield agreement on key issues, including the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.

In July 2006, the DPRK launched seven ballistic missiles, ending an eight-year moratorium on missile launches. Ten days later, the Security Council passed UNSCR 1695 (15 July 2006), condemning the launches of ballistic missiles by the DPRK and calling on States “to exercise vigilance and prevent missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology being transferred to DPRK’s missile or WMD programmes.” Rather than cease its WMD-related activities, Pyongyang proceeded to test a nuclear device on 9 October 2006.