Seven member states of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned the three missile tests carried out by North Korea on January 11, 14 and 17.
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This came according to statements made by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield.
And this is moments before the start of a closed consultation session of the Council at the headquarters of the International Organization in New York.
The seven countries are: the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Brazil, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to Japan (not a member of the Council).
“Just last week, we stood here to condemn the DPRK’s (North) ballistic missile launch on January 5,” Greenfield said.
The system has conducted three additional ballistic missile launches since then on January 11, 14 and January 17.”
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“The DPRK also announced that it had conducted launches on four occasions in the past two weeks, and published photos confirming the launch of ballistic missiles,” it added.
“We know that the DPRK’s launch of missiles using ballistic missile technology violates Security Council resolutions,” she said.
These facts should not be in dispute (among members of the Security Council).”
She explained that “the seven countries, in addition to Japan, issued a joint statement today (Thursday).
In it, it affirmed that the illegal behavior of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
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“These launches demonstrate the (Korean) regime’s determination to pursue weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs at any cost, even at the expense of its own people,” she said.
Greenfield also called on all member states to “implement unanimous Security Council resolutions.
which demanded that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
She expressed Washington’s readiness “to support a meaningful return to engagement and diplomacy (with North Korea) without preconditions.
Commitment to achieving lasting peace and stability in the region, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions.
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North Korea has been subject since 2006 to a series of economic, trade and military sanctions under resolutions issued by the Security Council on an annual basis since then.
This is due to Pyongyang’s nuclear ballistic missile programs.
Last March, the Security Council extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts on Sanctions on North Korea until April 30, 2022.
