Republic of Korea ratifies Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

The Republic of Korea deposited its instrument of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) with the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 24 September 1999, the third anniversary of the Treaty´s opening for signature. The Republic of Korea is the forty-sixth State signatory to have ratified the Treaty and the twenty-second of the 44 States listed in the Treaty to do so. Under Article XIV, to enter into force, the CTBT has to be ratified by 44 nuclear-capable States that formally participated in the work of the 1996 Conference on Disarmament and that possess nuclear power and research reactors as listed in the Treaty. The Republic of Korea is hosting one primary seismological station as part of the international monitoring system to verify compliance with the CTBT. The array station, located at Wonju, is already operating. Part of the equipment at the array will be upgraded in 2001 to meet the specifications of the monitoring system.

Meanwhile, a satellite link will be installed so that data from the array can be transmitted to the International Data Centre in Vienna. Under the CTBT, an international monitoring system (IMS) of 321 stations, using four complementary technologies, is being established to record data necessary to verify compliance with the Treaty. The stations will be capable of registering vibrations from a nuclear explosion underground, in the seas and in the air, as well as detecting radioactive debris released into the atmosphere. The monitoring stations will transmit, via satellite, the data to the International Data Centre (IDC) within CTBTO PrepCom in Vienna, where the data will be used to detect, locate and characterize events. These data and other IDC products will be made available to the signatory States for final analysis.

The 45 other States that have ratified the Treaty are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Mali, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Uzbekistan. To date, 154 States have signed the Treaty. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion anywhere in the world. Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the General Assembly on 10 September 1996, the Treaty was opened for signature on 24 September 1996 at the United Nations in New York.

For further information on the CTBTO, please see www.ctbto.org or contact: 
Annika Thunborg
Chief, Public Information   
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