Us Allies Clash With China Russia Over North Korea S Missiles

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States and its allies clashed with China and Russia on Friday over North Korea’s escalating ballistic missile launches and U.S.-led military exercises in South Korea, again preventing any action by the deeply divided UN Security Council.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said North Korea’s “astonishing 59 ballistic missile launches this year,” including 13 since Oct. 27 and one that had “unprecedented impact” about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the South’s coast Korea, is about more than advancing Pyongyang’s military capabilities and seeks to raise tensions and strike fear into its neighbors.
He said 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council have condemned North Korea’s actions since the start of the year, but Pyongyang is protected by Russia and China which have “bent over backwards” to justify repeated violations of UN sanctions. from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, the country’s official name.
“And, in turn, they enabled the PRC and made a mockery of this council,” he said.
China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun countered that the DPRK missile launches were directly linked to the resumption of large-scale US-South Korean military exercises after a five-year hiatus, involving hundreds of warplanes.  He also pointed to the Defense Department’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, which he said foresees the DPRK’s use of nuclear weapons and claims that ending the DPRK’s regime is one of the main goals of the strategy.
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN Anna Evstigneeva blamed the significantly worsening situation on the Korean peninsula “on Washington’s desire to force Pyongyang to disarm unilaterally using sanctions and applying pressure and force.”
He called the US-South Korean drills that began on October 31 unprecedented in size, involving some 240 military aircraft, and claimed that they are “essentially a rehearsal for conducting massive raids on DPRK territory.”
American Thomas-Greenfield responded to claims by China and Russia that the military drills had fueled tensions on the Korean peninsula, saying: “This is nothing more than a backlash of DPRK propaganda.”  He said the long-running defensive military exercises “are not a threat to anyone, let alone the DPRK.”
“In contrast, just last month, the DPRK said its recent launches were a simulation of the tactical use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield to ‘hit and eliminate’ potential US and ROK targets,” he said.  “The DPRK is just using this as an excuse to continue pushing its illegal programs.”
The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 and has tightened them over the years in an effort to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut off funding.  In May, however, China and Russia blocked a Security Council resolution that would have tightened sanctions on the missile launches, in the first major rift in the council over sanctions against North Korea.
That rift remains and appears to have deepened, but Russia, China and the United States have agreed on one thing: the need for renewed talks and a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.
China’s Zun called on the US to “stop unilaterally playing tensions and confrontations” and respond to “the legitimate and reasonable concerns of the DPRK to create conditions for the resumption of meaningful dialogue.”  And he said the Security Council, rather than seeking additional pressure on the DPRK, should help “restart dialogue and negotiations and resolve the humanitarian and livelihood difficulties facing the DPRK.”
Russia’s Evstigneeva said further sanctions would threaten North Korean citizens with “unacceptable social, economic and humanitarian upheaval” and reiterated the need “for proactive diplomacy and the importance of finding a political diplomatic solution and real steps from Washington, something more from mere promises to create meaningful dialogue”.
Thomas-Greenfield said even in the face of the DPRK’s escalating missile launches, “the United States remains committed to a diplomatic solution” and has conveyed its request to the DPRK for talks at all levels of the US government.
After the meeting, the council’s 10 elected members joined in a statement condemning the launches, calling on the DPRK to halt its nuclear and missile programs and reiterating their commitment to diplomacy and dialogue.
The US, Britain, France, South Korea, Japan and others then read a statement calling on all countries to condemn North Korea’s “destabilizing behavior and urge the DPRK to abandon its illegal weapons programs and join in diplomacy for denuclearization’.
Before the council meeting, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an Associated Press executive meeting that he was deeply concerned about North Korea’s “unacceptable behavior” and expressed hope that the Security Council would take “very decisive and strong measures”.
North Korea is the only country since the end of World War II to say it would use nuclear weapons in a first strike “when they feel any crisis may be imminent,” he said, calling it “arbitrary” and “irresponsible ».  .”