The United States and its European partners in the UN Security Council, without leverage or new ideas, failed on Monday to get China and Russia to adopt a “basic” text against North Korea, which has just proceeded to yet another alleged ballistic missile test.
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“We would have liked to have China and Russia with usfor this text, the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told AFP after a closed meeting of the Security Council on North Korea, convened urgently by Westerners after the North Korean experiment. Flanked by ten ambassadors, including four non-members of the Security Council (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea), the American diplomat read a joint text affirming the unity of this group “condemning (…) the March 5 launch by North Korea of a ballistic missile“. “Like the ten other ballistic missile launches since the start of the year, this act by North Korea violated multiple Security Council resolutionsadded Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“As North Korea steps up its destabilizing actions, the Security Council continues to remain silent. Every ballistic missile launch that results in Council inaction undermines the credibility of the UN Security Council itself vis-à-vis North Korea and undermines the global non-proliferation regime.“, she denounced, without mentioning China and Russia. According to diplomats, these two countries were the only ones to oppose during the meeting a text “basicand very short, intended to show the Council’s unity in the face of Pyongyang’s experiments. This text said that theCouncil had met», that there had been «violationsof its resolutions, andcalled for dialogue“, told AFP a diplomat on condition of anonymity.
“Determine an approach”
Since the Security Council’s last expression of unity towards North Korea, expressed in 2017 with the unanimous adoption of several sets of sanctions to force it to stop its nuclear and ballistic programs, it is “the 17th timethat China opposes the adoption of a text proposed by the United States and the Europeans, added the same source. Recalling that Joe Biden’s United States (like Donald Trump’s previous administration) had proposed a “dialogueto North Korea, the US ambassador lamented Pyongyang’s refusal to embark on a peaceful path. “We stand ready to work together and determine a mutually acceptable approach with other Council members to respond to North Korea’s provocations.said Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“The Council has a responsibility to speak publicly about clear and repeated violations (of its) resolutions“. “We call on all members of the Council to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and illegal acts.“, she added, welcoming the commitment on this subject alongside Washington of the Europeans and Brazil, members of the Security Council, as well as the four Asia-Pacific countries already mentioned. On Sunday, North Korea announced that it had proceeded the day before to “an important new testfor the development of a reconnaissance satellite, but analysts believe that it is rather a missile launch, a few days before the presidential election in South Korea.
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North Korea is subject to very severe international economic sanctions because of its nuclear and ballistic programs, but the launches of satellites for peaceful purposes are not subject to the same level of restrictions, although the rockets which carry them use largely the same technology. Despite those sanctions, Pyongyang has so far rejected all offers of dialogue since the breakdown in 2019 of talks between leader Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump.