UN Security Council Ends Discussions on North Korea ICBM Launch Empty-Handed

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures against North Korea's provocation of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but the meeting ended without concrete results due to opposition from China and Russia.

According to major foreign media on the 19th (local time), the Security Council held discussions on North Korea's non-proliferation agenda at 3 p.m. that day (5 a.m. on the 20th Korean time) at the UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting was convened at the request of the United States, a permanent member of the Council.

Khaled Khiari, Deputy Head of the Middle East, Asia, and Pacific Division at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), stated in the Security Council report that "Despite several meetings on this issue this year, North Korea has not heeded the Security Council's strong requests to refrain from further launches." He added, "Regrettably, North Korea again failed to provide safety notifications regarding its airspace and maritime security," pointing out that "unannounced launches pose serious risks to international civil aviation and maritime traffic."

UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres also issued a statement through spokesperson St?phane Dujarric, strongly condemning North Korea's ICBM launch and urging compliance with international law under Security Council resolutions. Robert Wood, Deputy Representative of the United States to the UN, condemned at the meeting, saying, "It is absurd to justify North Korea's recent ICBM and short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) launches in any way or claim they are an appropriate response to the (South Korea-US) talks." Ambassador Hwang Joon-guk, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN, also attended as a concerned party and strongly condemned North Korea's successive ballistic missile launches.

[Image source= Xinhua News Agency]

On the other hand, Geng Shuang, Deputy Ambassador of the Chinese Mission to the UN, attributed North Korea's ICBM launch to countering threats from the United States and placed responsibility on the US. He argued, "China is also paying attention to certain countries providing extended deterrence to their allies and deploying strategic weapons on the Korean Peninsula," adding, "If this vicious cycle of asserting offensive power is not broken, tensions on the Korean Peninsula may escalate further."

Kim Song, North Korea's Ambassador to the UN, attending as a concerned party, accused South Korea and the US of continuing military threats and shifted responsibility for North Korea's nuclear weapons development onto them.

Unlike many Security Council members condemning North Korea's ICBM launch, the permanent members with veto power, China and Russia, defended North Korea's position, resulting in the Security Council meeting ending after about an hour and a half without any outcomes.

The UN Security Council had previously held official meetings on August 25 and last month on the 27th to discuss North Korea's military reconnaissance satellite launches but failed to produce concrete results. Anticipating such outcomes to some extent, ten countries including South Korea and the US issued a joint declaration before the start of the Security Council meeting, strongly criticizing North Korea's ongoing provocations.

In the joint declaration, the ten countries stated, "We strongly condemn North Korea's ICBM launch on the 17th and previous launches in the strongest terms," adding, "We cannot become accustomed to such actions." The joint declaration included South Korea, the United States, Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Although South Korea and Slovenia are not current Security Council members, they will join as members starting January next year.

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