UN Security Council splits, again, over North Korea missiles
來源：開云體育app官方網站發布日期：2023-01-24 03:14:27 瀏覽：22334
 |
| The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss a ballistic missile test by North Korea, Oct. 5, at U.N. headquarters. AP-Yonhap |
Debate over how to handle a North Korean ballistic missile launch over Japanese territory split an already deeply fractured U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, with Russia and China insisting that U.S.-led military exercises in the region had provoked North Korea into acting.
Wednesday's session ended with no agreement on next steps, despite warnings from the U.S. and its allies that the council's inability to reach consensus on North Korea's record number of missile launches this year was emboldening North Korea and undermining the authority of the United Nations' most powerful body.
''This council should be mindful that it is being tested and its credibility is at stake. This council should act, and produce an action that restores its credibility,'' said Hiroshi Minami, Japan's deputy representative to the U.N. and one of those unsuccessfully urging the council back into its formerly unified stand over North Korea's launches.
North Korea's missile flight Tuesday was its longest-range weapons test ever, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that soared over Japan and had enough punch to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond. It forced the Japanese government to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.
 |
| South Korea's United Nations Ambassador, Hwang Joon-kook, address the U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea's ballistic missile test, Oct. 5, at U.N. headquarters. AP-Yonhap |
The U.N. said it was one of North Korea's unprecedented 39 ballistic missile launches so far this year, including the eight most recent ones in a single 10-day period. It comes as North Korea also appears to be moving toward a seventh test nuclear blast, the U.N. says.
Within hours of the council meeting, South Korea announced a new North Korean missile launch, bringing the year's total to 40.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is pushing to develop a fully fledged nuclear arsenal capable of threatening the U.S. mainland and the territory of U.S. allies, with a goal of wresting concessions from those countries, some experts say.
分享：