The UN Security Council is meeting again to discuss North Korea’s launch of yet another intercontinental ballistic missile, the third this year. Most members of the Security Council condemn the DPRK, but two permanent members – Russia and China – say the DPRK is “arming itself to defend itself”.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is becoming increasingly tense.
“We strongly condemn the April 12 launch of a solid-fuel ICBM by the DPRK,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “Once again, Pyongyang launched a missile without warning, endangering civilians, civil aviation and shipping.”
On April 12, North Korea used solid fuel in a ballistic missile for the first time. This is a new and more advanced technology – solid rockets do not need to be refueled just before use, they are more convenient and mobile in operation.
“This is the DPRK’s first launch of a solid propellant missile, and it represents a significant increase in the DPRK’s ballistic missile capability. Such a missile could potentially reach any point on the planet,” British Permanent Representative Barbara Woodward told the meeting.
The UN Security Council has passed several resolutions banning the DPRK from developing nuclear weapons and imposing a number of sanctions on North Korea. Many speakers at the meeting urged the Security Council to take further, tougher action in response to the DPRK’s violation of these resolutions, but a new resolution is unlikely to be adopted, as the two permanent members of the Security Council – China and Russia – are likely to veto it. In the Security Council, they are on the side of the DPRK.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is a legacy of the Cold War, it’s a security issue,” said Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN. “Since the time of the truce between North Korea and South Korea, no peaceful settlement mechanism has been formed there, and the DPRK faces a serious threat to its security, a threat to its survival.”
Zhang Jun also said that the United States and South Korea are constantly conducting military exercises in the region, which contributes to the escalation of tension. The representative of the Russian Federation also criticized the United States.
“With the promotion by the United States of its unilateral security doctrine and the desire to form new dividing lines in this region, the accelerated militarization of Northeast Asia becomes clearly destructive,” said Vasily Nebenzya. “The creation of the US-British-Australian partnership OCUS, whose projects raise serious concerns, including in the context of compliance with the NPT, is particularly revealing.”
The NPT is the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the OCSS is a tripartite agreement, part of the expensive US and UK aid in the acquisition of nuclear submarines by Australia. The US representative to the UN categorically denied Russia’s accusations.
“We have repeatedly stated that the partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom enhances peace and stability in the region, and Russia’s assertions that our trilateral partnership contradicts the Treaty on Non- nuclear proliferation have nothing to do with reality,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield. – You know it well. Australia receives conventional weapons as well as nuclear-powered submarines to modernize its fleet. Russian and Chinese submarines of this type operate all over the world.
Thomas-Greenfield said Australia did not plan to become a nuclear power. The US representative also noted that when the US and South Korea conduct joint military exercises in the region, they notify neighboring countries in advance, while the DPRK does not notify anyone of its tests.
Since the beginning of last year, North Korea has launched more than 80 ballistic missiles, including 11 intercontinental ones.
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