US fails to get China to back UN text against North Korea missile ‘violations’
- Pyongyang’s weekend satellite launch is thought to be a thinly veiled ballistic weapon test right before South Korea’s presidential election
- This marks the 17th time China has opposed the adoption of a US- and European-proposed text against North Korea since 2017
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“We would love to have China and Russia join us in this room” to adopt the text, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Agence France-Presse after a closed-door Security Council meeting.
Backed by 10 other ambassadors – including from countries not on the Security Council, such as Australia and Japan – Thomas-Greenfield read out a text affirming that the group is “united today in condemning the DPRK’s March 5 (local time) launch of a ballistic missile”, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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“Like the 10 other ballistic missile launches since the beginning of the year, this act by the DPRK violated multiple Security Council resolutions,” she said. “While the DPRK escalates its destabilising actions, the Security Council continues to remain silent.
“Each ballistic missile launch that results in inaction by the Council erodes the credibility of the UN Security Council itself,” Thomas-Greenfield added, without mentioning China or Russia.
The two countries were the only states opposed to the short, “basic” text at Monday’s meeting, diplomats said.
The text said the Security Council had met, that there were “violations” of the Council’s resolutions and called for dialogue, a diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.
The meeting marks the 17th time China has opposed the adoption of a US- and European-proposed text against North Korea since 2017, when the Security Council unanimously adopted sanctions in an effort to force Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
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“We stand ready to collaborate and determine a mutually agreeable approach with other Council Members to address the DPRK’s provocations,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“But let us start with the basic premise that the Council has a responsibility to speak publicly about clear and repeated violations of Security Council resolutions,” she added, calling on other members to also condemn “these dangerous and unlawful acts”.
Instead of diplomacy, Pyongyang has doubled down on Kim’s drive to modernise its military, warning in January that it could abandon a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.
