A man passes by a television station that reports the launch of three missiles by North Korea, including one believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in Seoul, South Korea, on 25 May 2022. REUTERS / Kim Hong-Ji
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UN, May 26 (Reuters) – China and Russia on Thursday vetoed a US-led push to impose more UN sanctions on North Korea for launching refurbished ballistic missiles, publicly dividing the UN Security Council. ‘UN for the first time since it began punishing. Pyongyang in 2006.
The remaining 13 members of the council voted in favor of the US resolution calling for a ban on tobacco and oil exports to North Korea, led by Kim Jong Un, a heavy smoker. He also blacklisted the Lazarus piracy group, which the United States says is linked to North Korea.
The vote came a day after North Korea fired three missiles, including one thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), following US President Joe Biden’s trip to Asia. It was the last in a series of ballistic missile launches this year, which are banned by the Security Council.
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U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the vote as a “disappointing day” for the council.
“The world is facing a clear and current danger from the DPRK (North Korea),” he told the council. “The moderation and silence of the council have not eliminated or even reduced the threat. In any case, the DPRK has been encouraged.”
He said Washington had assessed that North Korea had carried out six ICBM launches this year and was “actively preparing to conduct a nuclear test.”
For the past 16 years, the Security Council has steadily and unanimously increased sanctions to cut off funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The last time the sanctions were tightened in Pyongyang was in 2017.
Since then, China and Russia have been pushing for more sanctions on humanitarian grounds. Although some actions have been delayed behind closed doors in the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee, voting on Thursday’s resolution was the first time they have publicly broken unanimity.
“The introduction of new sanctions against the DPRK (North Korea) is a path to a dead end,” Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the council. “We have stressed the ineffectiveness and inhumanity of further strengthening the pressure of sanctions on Pyongyang.”
China’s ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, said the additional sanctions against North Korea would not help and would only lead to more “negative effects and an escalation of the confrontation”.
“The situation on the peninsula has become what it is today thanks mainly to US flip-flop policies and the failure to maintain the results of previous dialogues,” he told the council.
China has urged the United States to take steps, including lifting some unilateral sanctions, to entice Pyongyang to resume stalled talks since 2019, after three failed summits between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump. The United States has said that Pyongyang should not be rewarded.
The UN General Assembly will now discuss North Korea in the next two weeks under a new rule requiring the 193-member body to meet every time one of the five permanent members of the Security Council vetoes: Russia , China, United States United States, France and Great Britain.
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Report by Michelle Nichols; Edited by Richard Chang and Richard Pullin
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