FAREWELL STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR MAN-SOON CHANG
RE: PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA TO
THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

1 February 2001

Thank you, Mr. President.

Since this is (the first, and probably the last, time I take the floor under your presidency, may I congratulate you on your assumption of presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, and assure you of my delegations full support in your untiring endeavor.

All of us present here are keenly aware that kicking the CD off to a good start during the first presidency of the year, particularly at this critical juncture, is the most daunting and challenging task. It is no coincidence that this heavy responsibility has been conferred upon Canada. mid, especially a seasoned diplomat of your caliber who have always demonstrated invaluable leadership and creativeness in many important areas of arms control and disarmament.

Mr. President,

Today, 1 have asked for the floor to bid farewell to my colleagues here in this prestigious chamber, rather than make a national statement on specific disarmament issues. However, I could not pass up this farewell occasion without sharing with you some of my thoughts on the current situation at the CD.

MY country became a member state to this august body in 1996 when CTI3T negotiations were virtually completed. As a new member state, we had high hopes and great expectations for the proliferation of activities at the CD, the single multilateral negotiating forum fir disarmament, to advance the global cause of non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. Despite some work- during the brief spell of early 1998, which coincided with my arrival in Geneva, developments at the CD have fallen far short of our expectations, to say the least, What 1 have witnessed is not the proliferation, but the non-proliferation of activities. This negotiating forum has been in the doldrums, helpless in the face of the forces of Realpolitik. We have had many wake-up calls, but still, the CD has remained dormant. I was also dormant in this respect, without feeling much guilt, as 1 was able to devote more time and energy to other responsibilities.

Mr. President,

If the CD's inertia implies a world so safe and peaceful as to not be a cause for Concern, then we would be excused for this sorry state of affairs. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case. Rather, there is a long list of agenda items which should be taken up without further delay, particularly in the wake of last year's successful NPT Review Conference Outside the CD, we now hear the increasing concern that this body could be marginalized or come into oblivion, unless we regain momentum as soon as possible. I do not intend to be a doomsayer nor indulge in any irresponsible cynicism. Quite to the contrary, I stress the value and efficacy of the multilateral track in disarmament, however arduous and painstaking a process it may be.

In this regard, Mr. President, I take this opportunity to admire all the efforts made not only by yourself, but also by your predecessors, to break the impasse involving the work program of the CD and move the process forward, which culminated in the CD/ 1624. At this juncture, I fully share the judgement you made in your opening statement at the plenary of 23 January that CD/1624 - or something very close to it - remains the best option available.

As we all know, what lacks now is not the wisdom to improve on the language of the work program, but the political will to move forward even in the face of the evolving security environment which we admit is complex and fluid. In difficult times we are tempted to take up entrenched positions. Once we do that, however, we head straight for a vicious circle (or Catch22) without knowing how to break out of it. The CD is now at a crossroads, and the direction we should take is clear. It is the path of the win-win situation where pragmatism and realism prevail over dogmatism and extremism and where flexibility is not regarded as a defeat or as loss of face. Coming from a region where the Cold War legacy has only just begun to melt we have a keen interest in the progress at the CD which certainly has significant implications in our part of the world.

Mr. President,

The time has now come for me to move on, and so I bid farewell to all my colleagues who are left to struggle for substantive work to begin in the CD. With your determination and strength couched in your disarming smiles, I believe you will persist with your patient efforts to bring all the players on board so that we can ride the wind and cross the raving sea, as you so eloquently pleaded. Last but not least, I would like to thank our Secretary General, Mr. Vladimir Petrovsky, the new Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Enrique Roman-Morey, and the Secretariat who have served the Conference so well with limited resources.

Thank you, Mr. President