By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States on Monday called out Russia and China at the United Nations Security Council for “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate U.N. sanctions as Pyongyang pledged to accelerate building up its “nuclear force.”
“Russia and China have shamelessly protected Pyongyang from any reprisal, or even condemnation of its actions,” said deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood.
“Shielded from closer scrutiny of its sanctions-violating activities by Moscow and Beijing, Pyongyang, unsurprisingly, has been emboldened to continue advancing its unlawful ballistic missile, nuclear, and WMD programs,” he said, using the acronym for weapons of mass destruction.
The 15-member council was meeting over Pyongyang’s test launch on Thursday of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Wood said Russia and China had prevented the council from issuing a statement of condemnation, a move that needs consensus.
North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song told the Security Council that Pyongyang would accelerate the buildup of its nuclear force to “counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapons states.”
“The nuclear threat of United States against DPRK has already reached critical point in terms of its scale and danger,” Kim said. “Due to reckless moves of the United States, the potential situation is approaching the brink of war.” DPRK is the acronym for the country’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea has been under U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006, and the measures have been steadily strengthened over the years with the aim of halting Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
RUSSIA, CHINA PUSH BACK
Russia and China rejected the U.S remarks on Monday.
Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva accused the countries which called Monday’s meeting – the U.S., France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia and Britain – of “demonizing” North Korea to keep “afloat ineffective sanctions measures” and justify “aggressive steps” by the U.S. and allies in the region.
“We would once again like to note that the Security Council must fundamentally revise its approaches in order to get the situation out of this dangerous deadlock and not make it worse,” she said, accusing Western states of being “stuck somewhere in the Cold War era.”
China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said the Security Council needs unity, not division, should be promoting dialogue, and should not “profess itself just for the sake of doing so.”
“The Security Council should play a constructive role on the (Korean) Peninsula issue and take concrete measures to de-escalate the situation and enhance mutual trust, rather than simply imposing sanctions and pressure,” he said.
South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said Russia and China have prevented the council’s North Korean sanctions committee from updating a list of prohibited items that is aimed at curbing North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program.
“This launch once again raises a fundamental question: How can an impoverished pariah regime continue to develop such diverse ballistic missile programs despite the rigorous Security Council sanctions regime?” he said.
“The answer is that there must be large loopholes enabling the DPRK’s access to the equipment, materials, and technology necessary to advance its WMD programs,” Hwang said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)
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