

This is what makes people dismiss the United Nations as a geopolitical joke. Take the most bellicose, militarized, scofflaw nation on earth. Now make it the head of a disarmament council.

The presidency of U.N.'s Conference on Disarmament is now held by North Korea. Its representative on the body, So Se Pyong, announced that he "welcomed any sort of constructive proposals that strengthened the work and credibility of the body." Except, clearly, for the obvious suggestion that North Korea resign so as to avoid making the entity a laughing stock.

If there's an upside, it's that the Conference on Disarmament is already a broken instrument. Its members openly refer to its "current paralysis." It's failed to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty for 13 years running, a core part of its rationale. As a forum for negotiating arms reduction deals, U.N. Dispatch's Mark Leon Goldberg writes, it's "a backwater in the U.N. system."

With the Norks in charge – the conference's presidency rotates every few weeks – it's hardly going to get less backwater-y. Lest we forget, this is a country that withdrew from the Nonproliferation Treaty, repeatedly threatens South Korea with a "merciless retaliatory sacred war," nearly started such a war in the fall and might be preparing for its third nuclear test in a decade.

On the bright side, Pyongyang probably give up the presidency before it spreads nuclear material to the four corners of the Earth.

Photo: Flickr/Yeowatzup

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