North Korea to chair UN disarmament forum for 4 weeks in 2022
UN Conference on Disarmament to be chaired by North Korea for weeks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Korea has nabbed a spot at the nuclear weapons table – and will be chairing it soon.
The United Nations' Conference on Disarmament will turn the reigns over to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for four weeks in 2022 – listing them as an upcoming rotational chair for the forum.
"The session will open under the presidency of China. The presidency of the Conference rotates among its Member States according to the English alphabetical order, with each President holding office for four working weeks," the UN conference announced.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NORTH KOREA FIRES TWO MISSILES TOWARD EAST SEA, SOUTH KOREA SAYS
The conference, dedicated to the reduction and eventual end of weapons of mass destruction, will feature a rotating presidency by country including the hermit kingdom.
"After China’s presidency (24 January to 18 February), the following countries will also take the presidency during 2022: Colombia (21 February to 18 March), Cuba (21 March to 1 April and 16 to 27 May), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (30 May to 24 June), Democratic Republic of the Congo (27 June to 1 July and 1 to 19 August), and Ecuador (22 August to 16 September)," the UN document on the upcoming conference states.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Geneva, Switzerland - June, 25th 2011: United Nations Headquarters Building in Geneva, Switzerland. Main entrance (iStock)
The conference boasts a track record of joint agreements and international policy successes, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968 and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996.
"It's the height of irony," former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Heino Klinck told Fox News.
"It impugns the UN's relevancy and legitimacy, but in essence, any sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations is treated equally," he continued. "But I do find it very paradoxical that you have a country that is in violation of UN Security Council resolutions having to do with its nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missiles program and [will be] ostensibly the chair of disarmament? It's idiotic."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of a hypersonic missile in North Korea Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
North Korea has upped its testing activity recently amid long-stalled nuclear talks with the Biden administration, which recently hit five North Korean officials with sanctions in relation to missile tests in the region.
Last week, North Korea issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Korea indicated it may go back on certain concessions made to the U.S. after President Biden hit the hermit kingdom with new sanctions.
This picture taken on September 3, 2017, and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 4, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attending a meeting with a committee of the Workers' Party of Korea about the test of a hydrogen bomb, at an unknown location. North Korea said it detonated a hydrogen bomb designed for a long-range missile on September 3 and called its sixth and most powerful nuclear test a "perfect success", sparking world condemnation and promises of tougher US sanctions. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The isolated nation in recent weeks stepped up its weapons tests, including the test of supposed hypersonic weapons such as glide vehicles. The Biden administration hit five North Korean officials with sanctions in relation to the tests.
The sixth meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee convened this week, with party General Secretary Kim Jong Un in attendance. The Politburo discussed a number of "confidence-building measures," one of which may be to backtrack on a self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles in response to the sanctions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News's Kyle Morris and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.