On Friday, the US charged China and Russia for obstructing a coordinated UN Security Council response to North Korea’s missile launches, including Pyongyang’s attempt to launch a spy satellite on Thursday.
All save Moscow and Beijing spoke out against Pyongyang’s second spy satellite test in three months, which made use of ballistic missile technology, during a special Security Council meeting.
“This should be a topic that brings us together. But because to obstructionism from China and Russia, this Council has fallen short of its obligations from the start of 2022, according to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
She said, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of the North, “The DPRK’s nuclear threat is growing, and Russia and China are not living up to their responsibility to maintain international peace and security.”
Thomas-Greenfield also criticized the Chinese and Russian representatives who attended a military demonstration in North Korea last month that displayed brand-new drones and intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.
Moscow and Beijing, according to Thomas-Greenfield, “are celebrating — celebrating — violations of Security Council resolutions and continuing to block Council action.”
China and Russia’s vetoes of a resolution placing more sanctions on Pyongyang in May 2022 prevented the Security Council from passing any subsequent resolutions or statements against North Korea.
In 2017, the Security Council’s unanimous decision on North Korea was last implemented.
Representatives from China and Russia said that US military exercises with South Korea were to blame for North Korea’s provocative behavior.
North Korea has long asserted that both its satellite program and its nuclear program are being developed for self-defense.
According to North Korea’s ambassador, Kim Song, “our launch of the reconnaissance satellite is an exercise of the legitimate right to self defense to deter ever-increasing hostile military acts of the United States,” adding that his nation has never recognized UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea anyway.
Thomas-Greenfield disagreed with the viewpoint.
We all understand the reality: The DPRK prioritizes its own egotistical interests above the desperate necessities of the North Korean people.
Repression and brutality are the fuel that the DPRK’s war engine runs on, Thomas-Greenfield said. “It’s dishonorable and a serious threat to world peace,”
