Since the Security Council’s inception, North Korea has been prohibited from conducting nuclear testing and missile launches.
The United States charged Russia and China Wednesday with enabling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This was by protecting Pyongyang’s compliance to U.N. Security Council sanctions regarding its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile programs.
U.S. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the Ambassador to United Nations, stated that. “In short two permanent members have given Kim Jong Un the ability to live with us,” she said.
The council of 15 members met Wednesday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear-armed North Korea tested-fired a missile Tuesday. It flew over Japan for the first times in five years, prompting residents to run for cover.
China and Russia argued that a meeting of the public council would not be beneficial to their situation.
Following Wednesday’s meeting, nine members of Security Council – the United States (Britain, France, Brazil), India, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates – condemned North Korea’s missile launch with a joint statement.
Geng Shuang, China’s U.N. deputy ambassador, stated that the Security Council should play a constructive role, “instead relying on only strong rhetoric or pressure.”
“Discussions, deliberations, and discussions should be conducive to a detente rather than fueling escalation,” he said. They should encourage the resumption and development of dialogue rather than widening differences.
China and Russia vetoed the U.S.’s push to impose additional U.N. Sanctions on North Korea in May over North Korea’s renewed ballistic missile launch. This publicly split the U.N. Security Council since it began punishing Pyongyang back in 2006.
Anna Evstigneeva – Russia’s U.N. deputy ambassador – told the Security Council “Introducing new sanctions against DPRK” is a dead end and will bring “zero result.”
“We believe that the U.N. Security Council and Security Council mechanisms must be used to support interKorean dialogues and multilateral negotiation rather than becoming an obstacle,” she stated.
Since years, North Korea is prohibited from conducting nuclear tests or missile launches by the Security Council. Over the years, the Security Council has increased sanctions against Pyongyang to try to cut down funding for such programs.
Russia and China have proposed that U.N. sanction on North Korea be lifted for humanitarian purposes, and to allow Pyongyang to return to the international talks that are currently in limbo to persuade Kim to denuclearize.
Thomas-Greenfield stated that “This is a clear effort of China and Russia to punish DPRK for its bad actions and cannot being taken seriously by this council.” He was referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China and Russia accused the United States of provoking North Korea with joint military exercises. Thomas-Greenfield dismissed the remarks, saying that there was “no equivalency” between these activities.
