A Joint Communiqué Containing a “Stern Message to North Korea” Adopted at the G8 Summit

The G8 Summit, held in Northern Ireland on June 17-18, issued a joint communiqué on June 18, in which the G8 leaders urge North Korea to completely, verifiably and irreversibly abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, to abide by its obligations under relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six Party Talks, to engage in credible and authentic talks, and to address the concerns of the international community over the treatment of refugees repatriated to North Korea. 

The government of the Republic of Korea highly values and welcomes the stern and clear message concerning North Korea and its nuclear program, which the G8 Summit, a meeting of the world’s leading countries, sent through the latest joint communiqué. In addition to the G8 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (April 10-11) and the ASEAN Summit (April 24-25), the joint communiqué reaffirmed the international community’s united stance on North Korea and its nuclear program. In particular, the communiqué demonstrated the international community’s much interest in North Korea’s human rights issue by expressing concerns over the treatment of refugees forcibly repatriated to North Korea.