Quad denounces North Korea's nuclear pursuit in Wilmington Declaration

The leaders of Quad nations held a summit on Saturday and released a statement that condemned North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic provocations.

From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanense Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stand for a group photo before speaking during the Quad leaders summit at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware, on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

The leaders of the four Quad countries condemned North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and its repeated ballistic missile launches on Saturday, and reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The Quad, or the quadrilateral security dialogue, is a consultative body composed of the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

The Quad leaders — U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — announced the Wilmington Declaration after a summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which stated that Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launches and other actions constitute violations of UN Security Council resolutions.

“We urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the UNSCRs, refrain from further provocations and engage in substantive dialogue,” the Wilmington Declaration emphasized.

“We express deep concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which directly undermines the global nonproliferation regime,” the declaration continued, targeting Russia, which has stepped up military cooperation with North Korea recently.

The declaration also called on “all UN Member States to abide by the relevant UNSCRs including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel.”

“We express our grave concern over North Korea’s use of proliferation networks, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” the declaration also said. “We stress the need to prevent any proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in the region and beyond.”

This is interpreted as a reference to the possibility that Moscow will provide Pyongyang with advanced military technology in return for a massive supply of ammunition and missiles, as well as the proliferation of North Korea’s nuclear and missile technologies to other countries.

The declaration also pointed out that the term of the UN Security Council’s panel of experts tasked with monitoring violations of sanctions related to North Korea has not been extended, stating that “we reiterate our commitment to continued implementation of the relevant UNSCRs which remain in full force.”

Regarding China, the declaration avoided directly mentioning the country and said “we strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” expressing “serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain.”

“We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas,” the declaration continued. “We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea.”

The Wilmington Declaration also mentioned the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, which strives to secure awareness of all situations occurring at sea in terms of security, economy and environment.

The leaders announced that “the U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety, and continuing with further missions in future years across the Indo-Pacific.”

The Quad leaders also included public and private sector investment in building a clean energy supply chain, strengthening cybersecurity cooperation and providing Earth observation data and space-related applications for climate change management to Indo-Pacific countries in the declaration.

Regarding a reformation of the UN Security Council, the Quad leaders recognized “the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council” and argued such an expansion of permanent seats should include representation for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Wilmington Declaration additionally addressed pressing international conflicts such as the war in Ukraine and the situation in Gaza, calling for involved sides to comply with international law.

The Quad, launched in 2004 to check China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific, was upgraded from its initial ministerial-level status to a summit-level meeting by Biden in 2021.

The Quad Summit has been held six times so far, including two virtual summits during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is expected to be the last summit for Biden, who will leave office on Jan. 20 next year.

This is the first time that Biden has invited foreign leaders to Wilmington, his political home and the location of his private residence, for a summit.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]