UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile test, vows sanctions
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test and vowed to take further measures including sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s “highly destabilizing behavior.”
In a unanimous statement backed by China, the council on Monday stressed the importance of North Korea “immediately showing sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action.”
Council members demanded that North Korea “conduct no further nuclear and ballistic missiles tests,” in what appeared to be a final warning to North Korea before a new wave of sanctions could be adopted.
The adoption of the USdrafted statement came ahead of an emergency closed-door session of the council called by the United States and Japan to discuss the missile launch.
North Korea on Sunday tested what appears to be its longest-range ballistic missile to date, saying it was capable of carrying a “heavy nuclear warhead.”
Pyongyang has carried out two atomic tests and doz- ens of missile launches since the beginning of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States. The Security Council adopted two sanctions resolutions last year to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang and deny leader Kim Jong-un the hard currency needed to fund his military programs.
In all, six sets of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006.
In the statement, all members including China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, “vowed to fully implement all measures imposed” on North Korea and to “strongly urge” other countries to follow suit. LONDON: The Italian Supreme Court has ruled against a Sikh who wanted to carry a kirpan in public and said that migrants in the Western world must conform to the values of the society they have chosen to settle in.