UN Security Council silence on North Korea is dangerous, says US

Name: North Korea tests more missiles, says US forces pushing it to use Pacific as ‘firing range’
Uploaded: 2023-02-20T23:14:47.000Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: North Korea tests more missiles, says US forces pushing it to use Pacific as ‘firing range’

The US proposed that the UN Security Council condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launches and encourage Pyongyang to engage in diplomacy

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, warned that shielding North Korea from the consequences of its missile tests puts the entire world at risk of conflict

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US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Reuters

Published: 7:14am, 21 Feb 2023Updated: 7:15am, 21 Feb 2023

The United States proposed on Monday that the UN Security Council condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launches and encourage Pyongyang to engage in diplomacy, warning that the 15-member body’s failure to respond had become dangerous.

China and Russia oppose any further action by the Security Council, arguing that putting further pressure on North Korea would not be constructive. The pair vetoed a US-led push to impose more UN sanctions on North Korea in May last year.

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North Korea tests more missiles, says US forces pushing it to use Pacific as ‘firing range’

“The reality is that those who shield the DPRK (North Korea) from the consequences of its escalatory missile tests put the Asian region and entire world at risk of conflict,” said US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

“The council’s lack of action is worse than shameful. It is dangerous,” she told the Security Council, proposing that it adopt a formal presidential statement – one step below a resolution – to condemn North Korea’s action and urge diplomacy.

Such statements have to be agreed by consensus. The last time the council took action on North Korea was when it adopted a resolution to strengthen sanctions in December 2017 over Pyongyang’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dai Bing said repeated council meetings and calls for more sanctions on North Korea “neither embodies the constructive role of easing the situation, nor brings new ideas conducive for solving the problem.”