North Korea appeared this morning at the United Nations (UN) Security Council to defend its latest ballistic missile test, despite condemnation from most member states.
At the Security Council meeting, urgently scheduled after the launch of yet another missile from Pyongyang, North Korea’s ambassador to the UN, Kim Song, argued that the country was only exercising the right of self-defense “to deter dangerous military moves by hostile forces”. to frighten”. and to ensure the security of the state.
“We categorically reject and condemn the call for a Security Council briefing by the United States and its followers,” the ambassador said in a rare appearance at the UN.and according to diplomatic sources, the last time the country participated in a Council meeting on its own nuclear programs was in 2017.
Song took the opportunity to sharply criticize the military maneuvers of Washington and its partners in the region, which he classified as “threats and provocations”.
North Korea said Thursday it had successfully tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, days after it threatened to shoot down US spy planes that violated its airspace.
This is North Korea’s second time testing this type of projectile, which fell into the water after about 75 minutes of flight, according to Japanese authorities.
The UN said it landed in the waters of Russia’s exclusive economic zone and that 75 minutes may be the longest flight of this type of missile ever tested by the North Korean military.
After the meeting, ten UN member states argued that the Security Council “cannot remain silent in the face of provocations” by North Korea and “should send a collective signal” of disapproval of ballistic missile launches.
Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint statement condemning the launch “in the strongest possible terms”.
“The Council cannot remain silent about these provocations and we must send a clear and collective signal to North Korea (…) that this behavior is illegal, destabilizing and will not be normalized,” reads the statement, read by the US ambassador. Jeffrey DeLaurentis.
“We call on all member states to address North Korea’s illicit revenue generation and malicious cyber activities that fund the illegal and destabilizing actions of the North Korean government,” he added.
In the statement, the ten countries further call on all UN member states to fully and faithfully implement all relevant Security Council resolutions, including preventing “North Korea from evading sanctions for its illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs and associated global procurement programs.” to improve”. network”.
“It is time to unite and restore the Council’s voice on this threat and take action to address the threat posed by North Korea,” they urged.
According to the US ambassador, Russia and China – two of the five permanent members, with veto power – have prevented the Security Council from acting against Pyongyang.
“With these repeated launches, Pyongyang is showing that it is encouraged to continue in this way because China and Russia have consistently prevented this Council from taking action to stop these violations. None of this should be acceptable,” protested Jeffrey DeLaurentis .
Source: DN
