DEMARCHE DELIVERED: KOREA AGREES THE CD 'NEEDS A

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000294 SIPDIS GENEVA FOR DC DELEGATION, DEPT FOR ISN/MNSA WILLIAM MENHOLD JR. E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2020 TAGS: PARM MNUC KNNP PREL KS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: KOREA AGREES THE CD 'NEEDS A BREAKTHROUGH' REF: SECSTATE 13698 Classified By: POL M/C James L. Wayman. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) On February 19, Poloff delivered reftel demarche urging host countries to explore ways to move ahead in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to Kim Sung Eun, Second Secretary, Disarmament and Nonproliferation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT). Kim listened carefully to the U.S. approach to reach an agreement on a Program of Work (POW) and said the Republic of Korea (ROK) agrees that the CD is "not going anywhere" and "needs a breakthrough." Kim said she would carefully study the U.S. proposal to engage in additional activities and side events that would inform and educate other members on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). She agreed that the CD should adopt a POW as soon as possible, and certainly before the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in May. The one concern of the ROKG, she said, would be the reaction of members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),which she presumed would oppose any discussion or informal mechanism of raising the issue of the FMCT outside of the CD. ¶2. (C) Kim also informed Poloff that Ambassador Cho Hyun, the Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, would be visiting Geneva in two weeks for the UN Human Rights Council, and tentatively planned to address the CD during his visit. Kim said the ROKG appreciated the leadership of the USG on this issue and promised to keep us informed of the ROKG's plans. TOKOLA