Samantha Power, left, the U.S. Ambassador, and South Korean Ambassador Oh Joon, listen to his comments.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the launch and urged North Korea to “halt its provocative actions”. “China is a critical player….”
The launch came as the U.N. Security Council has been struggling in negotiations to put together a new resolution imposing sanctions on Pyongyang for the nuclear test because China has been reluctant to impose harsh measures on its communist neighbor.
The statement also expresses the council’s commitment “to continue working toward a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation leading to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.
“To launch a missile after conducting a nuclear test goes clearly against the United Nations resolution”.
Yoo said the talks on THAAD are aimed at bolstering South Korea-U.S. defense in the face of escalating North Korean threats.
“We think this is wrong for their national interests… for the Korean Peninsula… for the region”, Churkin said. A USA official said it might take days to assess whether the launch was a success. Japanese Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa said the draft under discussion would have “much more strengthened measures” against Pyongyang.
A defiant North Korea proceeded to sending off a rocket which the pariah state claimed to be part of its aerospace program to put an Earth observation satellite in outer space.
South Korea’s government says North Korea will make a special public announcement at noon Pyongyang time following Sunday’s rocket launch.
Juche is a North Korean philosophy focusing on self-reliance; the Day of the Shining Star refers to the February 16 birthday of Kim Jong Un’s father, former dictator Kim Jong Il.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan added his voice to the global expressions of condemnation. Various world leaders allege that the launch is a missile test.
The U.N. says, at the emergency session, that in doing so, North Korea has deliberately disregarded their sanctions placed upon them.
The rocket and nuclear tests are seen as crucial steps towards the North’s ultimate goal of a nuclear armed missile that could hit the U.S. mainland.
So far, the Security Council has adopted six resolutions, six presidential statements and two press statements with regard to the North’s nuclear and missile program.
The NIS estimated that if the rocket would have been used as a missile, it would have had a range of about 5,500 kilometres, Mr Shin said.
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While the White House was adamant that North Korea did not yet have the capability, other experts weren’t so sure.
