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MS. HARF: Let’s go over here. Yes.
QUESTION: So the UN Human Rights Council agreed on a resolution to extend its investigation
into human rights abuses by North Korea.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: I wanted to know if you had any comments on that.
MS. HARF: Let me see what I have. I do. Just give me one second. The Human Rights Council
did a number of things today, including that, so let me just pull this up. You’re asking
about North Korea specifically, right?
QUESTION: Yes.
MS. HARF: Okay. Yes. So we cosponsored this year’s resolution, which was led by the
EU and Japan, adopted by a vote of 30 yes, 6 no, and 11 abstentions. The text focused
on the contents of the recent report of the UN’s Commission of Inquiry, condemns the
DPRK for its ongoing human rights violations. It also seeks to promote implementation of
several of the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendation, including the Security Council’s consideration
of a referral to the ICC and targeted sanctions against those most responsible for what the
COI described as crimes against humanity.
Finally, the resolution called for the establishment of a field-based mechanism to continue the
investigation and collection of testimony and evidence initiated by the COI, which would
lay the groundwork for a possible accountability framework in the future.
QUESTION: And one more related to both North Korea and the UN.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: The Security Council the – issued a statement regarding North Korea’s recent
missile launch. I wanted to know if you had any statement regarding that as well.
MS. HARF: Yes. So this happened yesterday. The Security Council unanimously condemned
the DPRK’s recent ballistic missile launches in a presidential statement, which all members
agreed constituted clear violations of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. The council
also agreed to consult on an appropriate response. In the wake of yesterday’s meeting, we remain
in close consultation with our P5 members and the rest of the council on the format
and content of an appropriate response that would go a little further. Nothing to preview
at this point, but obviously we’ll keep having the conversation and see if there’s
additional action we can take.
QUESTION: So what do you think was preventing stronger action against North Korea?
MS. HARF: I don’t think anything’s preventing stronger action. I think it’s been 24 hours.
We’re talking about what to do next, want to do it in the right way. But nothing’s
preventing it. We’re just figuring out the right way to do it.
Yes.
QUESTION: North Korea again? It’s kind of a follow-up. So several diplomats of the North
Korean sanction committee, of the council, suggested as an option they might want to
extend the blacklist of entities that are related to the missile program. And I wondered
what you would consider about that option, whether you would agree with that.
MS. HARF: I haven’t heard about that proposal. Let me check on it.
QUESTION: Okay. I have another one. I’m sorry.
MS. HARF: Uh-huh. Go ahead. It’s okay.
QUESTION: So yesterday the Japanese minister in charge of abduction issues – Minister
Furuya – said that it’s possible for Japan to gradually lift its unilateral sanctions
if North Korea shows sincere positive movement towards resolving the abductee issues.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: And North Korea and Japan will be meeting on Sunday. So a few days ago, you
said that the United States and Japan were closely coordinating on the denuclearization
issue, and I was wondering if Japan does lift the sanctions, are you worried about the coordination
between the States and Japan?
MS. HARF: Well, I don’t --
QUESTION: Do you think that this could weaken --
MS. HARF: I don’t want to predict what might happen. (A), we are closely coordinated with
our ally, Japan, on all issues related to North Korea and everything else. On this,
we have continued to support Japanese efforts to resolve the abductions issue in a transparent
manner. We maintain regular contact with Japan on all of these issues, and just are not concerned
about us not being on the same page here.
QUESTION: Okay. So you don’t think that this might weaken the overall denuclearization
policy?
MS. HARF: Again, I think you’re getting into a lot of hypotheticals here. We don’t
think there’s – we don’t think there’s any daylight between us on these issues, and
if further things happen, I’m happy to engage on them then.
QUESTION: Okay. Thanks, Marie.