Korea, North
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
Not a State Party |
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Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Abstained on Resolution 65/48 in December 2010, as in previous years |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Has never attended international or regional mine meetings |
Policy
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty and has not participated at all in efforts to ban antipersonnel mines. Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials have stated that North Korea supports the aims and objectives of the treaty, but is not ready to accede, given its complex security situation.[1] In May 2009, a Geneva-based North Korean official stated that North Korea “is not interested in engaging” on the mine issue.[2]
North Korea is believed to have used very large numbers of mines in or near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with South Korea.[3] North Korea produced antipersonnel mines in the past, but no information is available on possible current production.[4] North Korea has exported mines, which have been found in Angola and Sudan, but there are no reports of recent transfers.[5] The size of North Korea’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines is not known, but it is probably substantial. North Korean-made copies of Soviet PMD-6 mines were found during the year on the shores of South Korean islands and along watersheds downstream from the DMZ in South Korea. Heavy rains and landslides moved the mines from their former locations causing casualties among civilians in South Korea.[6]
North Korea is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
[1] Email from Kerry Brinkert, Director, Implementation Support Unit, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, 1 February 2006. In 1998, a government representative indicated that it supported the “humanitarian purposes and the nature of” the Mine Ban Treaty, but could not accede to it “for security reasons” given the circumstances on the Korean peninsula. Statement by Counselor Kim Sam Jong, Permanent Mission of North Korea to the UN, 4 December 1998; and “Official Records of the UN General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, 79th plenary meeting” (New York: UN General Assembly [UNGA], 4 December 1998), A/53/pv79, pp. 8–9.
[2] Telephone interview with official at the Permanent Mission of North Korea to the UN in Geneva, 27 May 2009.
[3] Kim Ki-ho, Director, Korean Research Institute for Mine Clearance, estimated two million mines set at two-meter intervals on the northern side of the DMZ. “South Korea’s Uphill Battle Against Land Mines,” Voice of America (Seoul Bureau), 9 March 2010.
[4] North Korea has produced Model 15 fragmentation mines and APP M-57 blast mines. See Eddie Banks, Brassey’s Essential Guide to Anti-Personnel Landmines (London: Brassey’s, 1997), p. 164; and Colin King, ed., Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance 2004–2005 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2005), p. 211.
[5] Colin King, ed., Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance 2004–2005 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2005), p. 211.
[6] “1 killed, 1 injured in explosion near border town between S Korea, DPRK,” Xinhua, 1 August 2010, news.xinhuanet.com; and “3 mines found swept away from North,” Korea JoongAng Daily, 29 June 2011, joongangdaily.joins.com.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
North Korea did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention and has never attended a meeting on cluster munitions or made a public statement on the issue.
North Korea is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
North Korea is not known to have used or exported cluster munitions.
Jane’s Information Group lists North Korea as producing and stockpiling submunition warheads for 122mm, 170mm, and 240mm rockets. Jane’s Information Group also cites the North Korean Air Force as possessing KMGU dispensers (which deploy submunitions), RBK-500 cluster bombs, and unspecified types of anti-armor and anti-runway cluster bombs.[1]
[1] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 841; and Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001–2002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001).
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
The precise extent of the mine problem in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is not known. North Korea admitted in 1998 that it had laid mines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the north and south of the peninsula. The affected areas are reported to be marked and fenced.[1] In early 2006, officials commented to the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation Support Unit (ISU) that North Korea had not laid mines elsewhere in the country,[2] despite fears that, among others, sections of the east coast were also mined.
Mine Action Program
North Korea has no functioning mine action program.
[1] Statement by Counselor Kim Sam Jong, Permanent Mission of North Korea to the UN, New York, 4 December 1998, in “Official Records of the UN General Assembly, 53rd Session, 79th plenary meeting” (New York: UN General Assembly, 4 December 1998), A/53/pv79, pp. 8–9.
[2] Email from Kerry Brinkert, Director, ISU, 1 February 2006.
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
As in previous years, it is not known if new mine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties occurred in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in 2013. The ICRC reported that one mine/ERW survivor received a prosthesis in 2013.[1]
Since 1999, the Monitor recorded one mine incident in December 2002: a North Korean soldier involved in construction work in the demilitarized zone lost a foot in a landmine explosion.[2] It is likely that other incidents went unreported.
Victim Assistance
North Korea has no victim assistance coordination. The Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled coordinates disability issues, including advising on state policies relating to disability, developing regulations for special education and vocational training, and managing physical rehabilitation centers.[3]
In 2013, the ICRC continued to provide materials and training to the Rakrang Physical Rehabilitation Center in Pyongyang and supported the renovation of the center.[4] It also worked with the Ministry of Health to improve orthopedic surgery in four hospitals, an increase from three in 2012.[5] Handicap International (HI) also continued efforts to improve physical rehabilitation services by improving facilities, providing supplies, and training staff at several hospitals and rehabilitation centers.[6]
The law mandates equal access for persons with disabilities to public services. However, implementing regulations for the law had not been passed by the end of 2013 and persons with disabilities still face discrimination and lack of care due to a limited number of facilities and trained doctors.[7]
As of August 2014, North Korea had not signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
[1] ICRC, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014, p. 325.
[2] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2004: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004).
[3] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014.
[4] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014.
[5] Ibid.; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014, p. 324.
[7] United States Department of State, “2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Washington, DC, 27 February 2014.