Who's the new head of the UN's Conference on Disarmament? Can you guess?
The Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this morning in which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea assumed the presidency of the Conference and members bid farewell to the departing ambassadors from Canada and the United Kingdom.
In his initial address to the Conference as president, So Se Pyong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said that he was very much committed to the Conference and during his presidency he welcomed any sort of constructive proposals that strengthened the work and credibility of the body. He was ready to work closely with all members to provide the grounds for strengthening their work. As president, he would be guided by the Rules of Procedure and take into account the position of each delegation to find common ground on substantive issues and procedural matters as well. With their support and cooperation, he would do everything in his capacity to move the Conference on Disarmament forward....
In his farewell address, Ambassador John Duncan of the United Kingdom said that many had speculated about why the Conference on Disarmament seemed unable to play its part in the new dynamic in multilateral diplomacy; an increasing number had drawn the conclusion that the Conference on Disarmament was no longer “fit for purpose”.
No longer "fit for purpose"? Whatever would make him think that? No one else seemed to voice any concern:
All of the delegations who took the floor welcomed So Se Pyong as the president of the Conference on Disarmament and said that they looked forward to his stewardship and working with him to revitalize and strengthen the Conference.
Who can fail to feel reassured by the news that large numbers of men in Geneva are able to eat out in style every night after a heavy day discussing serious disarmament-related matters, under the dynamic stewardship of the North Koreans?
[Via]
Perhaps this is all a cunning scheme to force the North Korean leaders to abandon their nuclear ambitions purely by high intensity irony. I don't see how it could work though — they seem to be immune.
Posted by: Eric S. Smith | July 01, 2011 at 04:27 PM
Let's see, a North Korean has taken over from a British diplomat. So a country which has a small nuclear arsenal has taken over from a country with a large nuclear arsenal and host to US military bases. A country whose belligerence is limited to a couple of skirmishes with its neighbour has taken over from a country which is currently bombing Libya and taking part in aggressive operations in Afghanistan, and in recent years has attacked Iraq, Serbia and, if you go back a little further, plenty more.
It seems to me the Conference on Disarmament is under rather more appropriate stewardship now.
Posted by: Ron Sizely | July 25, 2011 at 04:49 AM