US, North Korea at odds over UN Security Council resolutions violation
![]() |
A short-range missile is launched from Kusong, North Pyongan Province, in northwestern North Korea, May 9, in this photo released the following day by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast five days after its launch of multiple "unidentified" projectiles on May 4. KCNA-Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
The United States and North Korea are at odds over whether North Korea's launch of short-range missiles earlier in the month was a violation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions regulating North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear technologies.
The U.S. Department of State spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the department's view is that North Korea's whole weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program is in conflict with the UNSC resolutions.
"I think that the entire North Korean WMD program, it's in conflict with the U.N. security resolutions," Ortagus said, adding that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is focused on supporting U.S. President Donald Trump in efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to North Korea's WMD program.
Although the spokeswoman did not mention the word "missile" directly, missile is one of the WMD categories along with chemical weapons, according to the U.S. interpretation.
Earlier this week, North Korea indirectly admitted it fired ballistic missiles by saying any object launched is "bound to fly in trajectory," in reference to the North's firing of "unidentified" projectiles and short-range missiles on May 4 and 9.
"What the U.S. is taking issue with is not about the range but the prohibition of the launch itself using ballistic technology," North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement carried on the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) website, Monday.
!['US, North Korea should not walk away from talks'](http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/for0528thumbnail.jpg/dims/resize/84/optimize)