Photo : YONHAP News
The 11th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, ended Friday at U.N. headquarters in New York without adopting a final consensus document.
Member states failed to bridge differences over regional nuclear issues involving North Korea and Iran, as well as nuclear disarmament obligations.
The failure marks the third consecutive collapse of a final agreement following the 2015 and 2022 review conferences.
One of the biggest sticking points was a proposed clause calling for stronger implementation and transparency measures on nuclear disarmament by nuclear-weapon states which drew opposition from nuclear powers.
In the final stage of negotiations, all references to North Korea’s nuclear program and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula were removed from the draft document.
South Korea’s deputy ambassador to the U.N., Kim Sang-jin, expressed deep regret that the conference failed to include even a brief message on North Korea.
He said the document should have reaffirmed the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and stressed that North Korea can never be recognized as a nuclear-weapon state under the NPT.
The conference chair described the collapse as “disastrous” for the credibility of the global non-proliferation regime.