The United States has asked the president of the UN Security Council to make a statement on North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, especially after Friday’s long-range missile fired into the Sea of Japan that could carry nuclear warheads to a radius of 15,000 kilometers, including the U.S. mainland.
«We will provide another opportunity for the Council to hold the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) — North Korea’s official name — accountable for its dangerous rhetoric and destabilizing actions,» said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield.
In this regard, the U.S. diplomat announced that her country will propose a presidential statement to the Security Council, a measure that requires the consensus of all the members of the body and which would be the step prior to the development of a resolution.
Greenfield urged the Security Council to endorse the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres, who condemned the launch of a long-range ballistic missile last Friday, reiterating to Pyongyang to «immediately desist» from its «provocations» and to «fully comply with its international obligations».
«It is time for the Security Council to make the same call as the secretary-general. For too long, the DPRK has acted with impunity,» the U.S. ambassador criticized.
«(Pyongyang) has conducted staged and destabilizing ballistic missile launches without fear of a response or retaliation from this Council,» Greenfield added.
He also criticized that Kim Yong Un’s government has «flagrantly violated Security Council resolutions» a total of «sixty-three times this year,» undermining «the global non-proliferation regime.»
«Sixty-three times this year, the DPRK has shown total disregard for the security of the region and total disrespect for this Council. How many more missiles must be launched before we respond as a unified Council?» denounced Greenfield.
Guterres issued a statement strongly condemning Pyongyang’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile, urging it to «immediately desist from further provocative actions.
Pyongyang has been testing missiles with unusually high frequency this year, including short- and long-range ballistic missiles, as well as a medium-range missile that flew over the Japanese archipelago. The intercontinental projectile launched Friday can carry several nuclear warheads to a radius of about 15,000 kilometers, enough to reach the entire U.S. mainland.
