“Under the present situation where the situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and sensitive, we oppose any moves that may further worsen tensions there”, he said, adding that any so-called unilateral sanctions “should neither affect nor harm China’s reasonable interests”. The resolution also condemned the North’s firing of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on March 10, in response to new sanctions from South Korea.
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North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Friday, one of which flew about 800 kilometers (500 miles) while the other exploded shortly after launch, USA officials said, as the isolated state stepped up its defiance of tough new United Nations and U.S. sanctions. The UN slapped the country with sanctions each time it conducted nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches, but usually responded to ballistic launches with statements criticising them.
North Korea apparently wants to flaunt the enhancement of its nuclear capability, but in reality, the country is just intensifying its worldwide isolation.
The new sanctions include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang; and expulsion of North Korean diplomats who engage in “illicit activities”.
The resolution drafted by the United States and Pyongyang’s ally China was unanimously adopted.
The council also “stressed that all these launches were unacceptable”, violated United Nations resolutions and posed a threat to regional and global security.
South Korean military officials said two missiles were launched on Friday from Sukchon in the country’s southwest. Following the launch, a second ballistic missile was sacked but disappeared from South Korea’s military radar.
“The Members of the Security Council reiterated that the DPRK shall refrain from further actions in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions”, said the statement.
“We have seen reports that North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan”, said Kirby.
While North Korea is known to have a small stockpile of nuclear weapons, its ability to deliver them accurately to a chosen target on the tip of a ballistic missile has been a subject of heated debate.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s supreme court sentenced a visiting American student to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a punishment Washington condemned as politically motivated.
How advanced is North’s nuclear programme?
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The US and South Korea remain technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement.
