UN Security Council Officially Discusses North Korea ICBM Launch... South Korea Also Attends

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has begun discussions on how to respond to North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch provocations.

On the 19th (local time) at 3 p.m. (5 a.m. Korean time on the 20th), the Security Council held an official meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York to address North Korea's non-proliferation agenda.

This meeting was convened at the request of the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, to discuss a Security Council-level response to North Korea's missile launch on the 18th, which is presumed to be the Hwasong-18 ICBM, fired into the East Sea.

South Korea, although not a Security Council member, also attended the meeting as a concerned party to strongly condemn North Korea's successive ballistic missile launches and to urge a unified Security Council response. North Korea also attended the meeting as a concerned party.

[Image source= Xinhua News Agency]

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres issued a statement through spokesperson St?phane Dujarric condemning North Korea's ICBM launch and urging compliance with international law in accordance with Security Council resolutions.

However, since permanent members China and Russia are at odds with the United States and other Western countries, it is expected to be difficult to achieve concrete outcomes such as a Security Council condemnation statement or the adoption of a resolution during this meeting.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) also issued a joint statement regarding North Korea's ICBM launch, stating, "North Korea continues to enhance its illegal nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities and expand destabilizing activities," and "we strongly condemn this in the strongest terms."

They added, "We reiterate our call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and urge North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and all other existing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner in accordance with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions."

They further expressed regret "that North Korea prioritizes its illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the welfare of its people," and stated, "North Korea's repeated reckless actions must be met with a swift and unified strong international response, particularly by the UN Security Council."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.