US presidency of UN Security Council: North Korean Military Activities still raised concern
The United States has requested United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to hold a meeting this weekend to discuss North Korea’s recent military activities. The US also push the member of the council to strengthen sanctions against Pyongyang.
This May, Washington holds the presidency of UNSC and has been considering bringing up the issue at the meeting since last week. The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in New York,
In the last several months, North Korea has intensified its missile tests, some of which are threatening the West and its alliance. The latest test was conducted last Saturday (May 7th) by firing a ballistic missile from a submarine. 15 missiles test reported so far this year has been described by many countries as a way to show off their power and it succeed to raised concerns.
The recent launch came just days before the newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office. Yoon who is set to be sworn in on Tuesday known for his promise to take a hard line against North Korea. A different approach from the foregoing president.
US ambassador for the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the White House hopes the member of the UNSC to vote to further sanction North Korea. But China and Russia—which both hold veto power—seem would like to oppose the proposal.
“It is a challenge, it is a threat to international peace and security that the UN Security Council and its members have recognized in the past,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price told reporters last week, about North Korea’s test launches.
According to Al Jazeera, a US State Department official believes that on May 6, Pyongyang is “preparing its Punggye-ri test site and could be ready to conduct a test there as early this month”. Punggye-ri was the only known nuclear test site in North Korea established in the early 2000s. The last nuclear tests known to the public were conducted at the site in September 2017.
Besides further sanctions, the US has pushed North Korea to return to discuss denuclearisation talks. Which have been stalled for 3 years because Pyongyang’s demands for sanctions relief were not granted by the prior president of the US, Donald Trump. Last month, Kim Jong Un said that he would step up the development of banned nuclear weapons.
“We will continue to take steps to strengthen and develop our nation’s nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace,” Kim said, according to a transcript published by the official Korean Central News Agency. The North’s nuclear weapons were “a symbol of national power” and should be diversified, he added.