North Korea: tense meeting in the UN Security Council after the launch of the “monster rocket”

New UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on Monday. Last Friday, Pyongyang launched a “monster missile” like the Hwaseong-17, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with unprecedented range, in the presence of the North Korean leader’s wife and daughter. Hours before the meeting, South Korea asked China and Russia for “active cooperation” to prevent Pyongyang from conducting new missile tests.

South Korea’s nuclear spokesman Kim Gunn spoke with the Chinese and Russian ambassadors in Seoul, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, asking them to help hold North Korea accountable for its “provocations.” “Kim Gunn called on China and Russia, permanent members of the Security Council, to actively cooperate and play a constructive role in order to prevent North Korea from committing new provocations and return it to dialogue,” the agency said in a statement.

North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles this year, and Washington has been warning for months that it could test a nuclear bomb, the first since 2017, at any time. The meeting of the Security Council was scheduled at the request of the United States a few hours after Kim Jong-un witnessed the launch of his intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the American continent.

The launch was widely condemned by the international community, including France. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on North Korea to “immediately refrain from any further provocative actions” and to “comply fully with its international obligations under Security Council resolutions.” In response, North Korea called him a “US puppet”.

“Dangerous, illegal and irresponsible act”

“I express my deep regret that the UN Secretary General sees a truly deplorable attitude, ignoring the purpose and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and its very mission, which is to maintain impartiality, objectivity and fairness in all matters,” North said. This was stated by Korean Foreign Minister Choi Song-hui in a statement quoted on Sunday evening by the official news agency KCNA. Choi Sung-hui believes that António Guterres should have also criticized the joint military exercises regularly held in the region by the United States, South Korea and Japan, which, in her words, “led to the current situation of confrontation on the Korean Peninsula.” .

Calling on the UN Security Council to “respond adequately” to this shelling, the European Union condemned the “dangerous, illegal and irresponsible action.” Also condemning the “irresponsible” actions, the G7 foreign ministers (Germany, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Japan, UK) called for “a united and decisive response from the international community, including the need for a UN Security Council.” take additional meaningful action.”

The Security Council has adopted about a dozen resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and missile activities since 2006. But new sanctions are unlikely: Russia and China, which are also critical of Washington’s military maneuvers in the region, object to their veto of any initiative in this direction.