The United Nations Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, describing it as an outrageous threat and demanded that Pyongyang not launch any more missiles.
the 15-member Security Council said in a statement that it was of “vital importance” that North Korea take immediate, concrete actions to reduce tensions and called on all states to implement United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang.
The council also expressed “its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution”.
“The Security Council stresses that these DPRK [North Korean] actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states,” said the statement, issued after closed-door talks at UN headquarters.
“The Security Council expresses its grave concern that the DPRK is, by conducting such a launch over Japan as well as its recent actions and public statements, deliberately undermining regional peace and stability.”
However, the US-drafted statement, which was agreed by consensus, does not threaten new sanctions on North Korea.
Diplomats say veto-wielding council members China and Russia typically only view a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible UN sanctions.
The Security Council earlier this month unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea that could slash by a third the Asian state’s $3bn annual export revenue after it staged two long-range missile launches in July.
North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.
It was gathered that while China – North Korea’s close ally and neighbour – had agreed to the the statement, it had also criticised ongoing joint US-South Korea military exercises which North Korea sees as a threat.
“So while agreeing to condemn North Korea and also agreeing to enforce previous UN sanctions on that country, China making very clear as well that [they believe] there are other duties that some of the Security Cpouncil member states could exercise to help defuse the situation within that region,” said Hanna.
“But generally, a clear signal of Security Council unity and a very important signal that China has confirmed it will help enforce the execution of sanctions already in place, and this is the critical issue,” he said.
*With details from Aljazeera
