"In order to deal more effectively with the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, governments should support this resolution and vote in favor of starting negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons," Fihn said.
The Resolution 2310 was adopted by the UN on September 23.
"A ban will be an effective tool to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to new countries and to put pressure on those countries that currently possess nuclear weapons, including North Korea," Fihn added.
North Korea has been under pressure from the international community since its January nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch in February, which resulted in tightening sanctions against Pyongyang in the new UN Security Council resolution in March.
On September 9, Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test at its northeastern nuclear test site. The nuclear experiment is believed to be the fifth and the largest since North Korea started pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The CTBT is a multilateral treaty that mandates signatories to ban all nuclear explosions for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted at the 50th session of the UN General Assembly on September 10, 1996, and opened for signature two weeks later. It has been signed by 183 countries. At present, the treaty is ratified by 36 states, including the three nuclear weapons possessing countries — Russia, France and the United Kingdom. In October 1999, the US Senate rejected ratification of the treaty in a 51-48 vote.
