US and allies urge North Korea to abandon nukes, missiles

United Nations, January 11

The United States and five allies urged North Korea on Monday to abandon its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs and called on the UN Security Council to oppose Pyongyang’s “ongoing, destabilising and unlawful actions,” including missile launches.

The six countries issued a statement ahead of the council’s closed consultations on the North’s January 5 launch of what Pyongyang characterised as a hypersonic missile and South Korea said was a normal ballistic missile that could be intercepted.

The meeting concluded before South Korea reported on Monday night that North Korea had fired an unidentified projectile into the sea.

The UN’s most powerful body took no action.

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations were closed said Russia and China again called for the lifting of some sanctions against North Korea.

China and Russia, which border North Korea, circulated a draft resolution in November stressing the North’s economic difficulties and calling for the lifting of sanctions that include a ban on exports of seafood and textiles, a cap on imports of refined petroleum products, and a prohibition on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.

The six countries urged all nations to implement UN sanctions against the North.

The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and made them tougher in response to further nuclear tests and the country’s increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The statement by the US and council members Albania, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, joined by Japan, condemned the January 5 missile launch, calling it “a clear violation of multiple Security Council resolutions”.  AP

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