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Russia, China clash with US at UN over North Korean missile tests

Saturday, 26 August 2023 9:07 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 August 2023 9:35 AM ]

The UN Security Council holds a meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, July 29, 2022. (Photo by Reuters)

The United States ambassador to the United Nations has accused China and Russia of blocking a unified UN Security Council response to North Korea's missile tests.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the remarks during an emergency Security Council meeting on Friday, after Russia and China blocked a US motion to condemn Pyongyang’s attempt to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit a day earlier.

Since the beginning of 2022, she said, "this council has failed to live up to its commitments because of China's and Russia's obstructionism".

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China of "not living up to their responsibility to maintain international peace and security" in the face of what she called growing nuclear threat from North Korea.

In May last year, China and Russia vetoed a resolution imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang. The last unified Security Council action on North Korea took place in 2017.

Thomas-Greenfield further denounced Russia and China’s presence at a North Korean military parade last month.

In response, Chinese and Russian representatives blamed Washington for North Korea's tests, pointing to ongoing US military drills with South Korea.

North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said Pyongyang’s launch of the reconnaissance satellite “is an exercise of the legitimate right to self-defense to deter ever-increasing hostile military acts” of the US.

On Thursday, North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 aboard the new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1.

The attempt, made at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan County of North Phyongan Province, failed after the rocket booster experienced a problem during its third stage. Pyongyang vowed to try for the third time in October.

North Korea, which is under harsh sanctions by the United Nations and the United States for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, has been seeking to put what would be its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, saying it plans a fleet of satellites to monitor moves by American and South Korean troops.

North Korea says its objective is to defend the nation against US aggression exemplified in its continuous military drills and deployment of nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.

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