The UN Security Council condemned North Korea’s launching of three ballistic missiles as President Barack Obama called on the world body Tuesday to tighten sanctions and further isolate a nation widely viewed as an global pariah.
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US President Barack Obama held talks on Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos. “We’re going to work together to make sure that we’re closing loopholes and making them even more effective”.
South Korea said in July that it will deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, missile-defense system from the U.S. by the end of 2017, a move China opposes.
The Security Council members also condemned the Pyongyang administration, led by Kim Jong-un, for diverting all its resources “to the pursuit of ballistic missiles”, ignoring the requirements and “great unmet needs” of its own citizens.
“And President Park and I agreed that the entire worldwide community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable”.
Despite the lack of a formal statement as of yet, Bessho said all members of the council “opposed and condemned the launch in very strong terms”.
While no statement was yet issued by the UNSC following the meeting, the Ambassadors to the United Nations from the U.S., South Korea and Japan, emerged to make statements before the press. “They’re a violation of North Korea’s obligations internationally”.
Prior to the March 2 resolution (resolution 2270), the council had passed four earlier ones between 2006 and 2013 (resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094), all prohibiting provocative actions which North Korea continues to take – with increasing frequency.
The council issued a similar statement last Friday condemning Pyongyang’s submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test last week.
How to put more pressure on a defiant North Korea may dominate the possible trilateral meeting as it comes amid Pyongyang’s unrelenting military provocations.
Thousands of United States troops are stationed in South Korea and Japan.
Park, meanwhile, said North Korea was “fundamentally threatening the security” of the Korean Peninsula.
President Park Geun-hye and her USA counterpart Barack Obama shake hands after a press conference in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on September 6, 2016. Samantha Power said North Korea has conducted 22 separate provocations and is developing its ballistic missiles program.
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They also required mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air and a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang.
