The United States and its allies have hit out at China and Russia, accusing the two of obstructing United Nations Security Council measures against North Korea over its increasing ballistic missile launches.
The 15 members of the UN Security Council on Friday agreed to a joint statement condemning North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launch. Instead, several countries – including France, the United Kingdom and the US – have separately condemned Pyongyang’s ongoing missile tests.
North Korea has launched a number of ballistic missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), bringing the total number of missiles to more than 60 this year.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that 13 members of the Security Council have condemned North Korea’s increasing ballistic missile launches since the beginning of the year, but that two countries have defended Pyongyang – China and Russia – despite and he did not mention his name. them immediately.
The two countries have “bent over backwards” to support repeated violations of UN law by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the US ambassador said, using the name of the North Korean government.
“But, in turn, they have helped the DPRK and made a mockery of this council,” he added.
But China, a close ally of North Korea and Russia, whose relations with the West have been severely damaged by its invasion of Ukraine, told the UN meeting that the US is responsible for the ongoing conflict with North Korea.
Two members of the UN Security Council have backed away from endorsing North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile program.
And, in turn, they have helped North Korea.
This cannot stand. The threat to the region and the world is immense. pic.twitter.com/1UEEFWixB0b
– Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) November 4, 2022
China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun responded that the North Korean missile blast was closely linked to the resumption of major US military exercises with South Korea after a five-year hiatus, including air force exercises involving hundreds of warplanes from both countries.
The Chinese representative pointed out that the US Department of Defense released the 2022 Nuclear Development Review recently which he said expects North Korea to use nuclear weapons and the destruction of the regime in Pyongyang is one of the US goals.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva blamed the worsening situation in the Korean Peninsula on “Washington’s desire to force Pyongyang to disarm one by one by using sanctions and applying pressure and force”.
He called the US-South Korean military air drills, which began on October 31, unprecedented with about 240 military aircraft and said they were “rehearsals for a major attack on DPRK territory”.
In June, Evstigneeva called for the lifting of sanctions on North Korea, saying that the country needs humanitarian aid and less pressure from the West.
North Korea defends its missile program and ballistic missile launches as the right way to defend against what it sees as a decades-old threat from the US and South Korea.
The US ambassador responded to the Chinese and Russian ambassadors by saying: “This is nothing but a distortion of the DPRK’s propaganda”.
He added that US military exercises in South Korea “do not pose a threat to anyone, let alone the DPRK”.
“In contrast, just last month, the DPRK said its recent deployment was to ‘hit and destroy’ U.S. targets in the Republic of Korea with a range of nuclear weapons,” he said. he said.
The French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, called on the meeting on Friday to continue pressure on North Korea’s sign that it is preparing for the seventh test of a nuclear bomb.
“The current upheaval is unprecedented and this latest provocation is unacceptable,” he said.
The UN Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 and tightened them over the years as they seek to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut funding.
But, in May, China and Russia blocked a resolution that would have tightened the ban on arms imports, in the first serious dispute in the council over sanctions against North Korea.
UN Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khari warned that the unity of the UN Security Council and North Korea is necessary if progress is to be made.
“The unity of the Security Council on this issue is necessary to calm the conflict, overcome the political crisis and the negative reactionary process,” Khari said.
Al Jazeera Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from New York, said the UN Security Council was not unanimous in its approach to North Korea.
“Of course many members would like to issue a joint statement, a strong statement condemning North Korea. But it seems impossible to hold such talks because China and Russia are against such a statement body,” he said.
