UN discussing how to handle North Korea aggression

The United Nations Security Council was called into emergency session Friday after North Korea conducted its longest-ever test flight of a ballistic missile.

The council wanted to talk about what to do now that Kim Jong Un has ignored its latest round of sanctions.

France’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country is ready to work on tougher UN and EU measures “to convince the regime in Pyongyang that there is no interest in an escalation, and to bring it to the negotiating table.” The intermediate-range weapon North Korea launched early Friday from Sunan, the location of Pyongyang’s international airport, hurtled over U.S. ally Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean.

The launch signalled both defiance of North Korea’s rivals and a big technological advance.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” in August, the North has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over Japan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the missile launch as a serious violation of Security Council resolutions, coming less than two weeks after the North’s sixth nuclear test, which also violated a ban.

The Security Council’s emergency meeting Friday was behind closed doors.

On Monday the council unanimously approved its toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.