At its concluding session today, the IAEA General Conference adopted resolutions on nuclear issues, including the implementation of safeguards in North Korea and the application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East. More than 100 States met at the Conference in Vienna this week.
The resolution on the implementation of nuclear safeguards in the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) "strongly welcomes the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 on the fourth round of the Six-Party Talks in China." The resolution states that the latest round of Talks "accomplished positive progress by taking a first step toward the goal of the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner, and looks forward to the results of the fifth round of these talks in early November."
The resolution stresses the General Conference´s desire for a "peacful resolution through dialogue to the DPRK nuclear issue, leading to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, with a view to maintaining peace and security in the region." The DPRK resolution was adopted without a vote.
The resolution on the application of safeguards in the Middle East, as similar General Conference resolutions have done in the past, calls upon "all States in the region to take measures, including confidence-building and verification measures, aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free-zone in the Middle East." The resolution was adopted without a vote.