The United States and allies South Korea and Japan clashed with China and Russia on Friday over North Korea's latest satellite and ballistic missile launches and threats to use nuclear weapons that have escalated tensions in northeast Asia.
The scene was an emergency open meeting of the UN Security Council called after North Korea's failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on May 27 and other launches using ballistic missile technology in violation of UN sanctions.
Since the beginning of 2022, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 바카라 the North's official name 바카라 has launched over 100 missiles using this banned technology as it has advanced its nuclear weapons programme. In response, the US and its allies have carried out an increasing number of military exercises.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari briefed the council meeting saying sovereign states have the right to benefit from peaceful space activities 바카라 but the DPRK is expressly prohibited from conducting launches using ballistic missile technology and its continuing violations undermine global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties.
바카라We remain deeply concerned about growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,바카라 Khiari said. 바카라There is a need for practical measures to reduce tensions, reverse the dangerous dynamic, and create space to explore diplomatic avenues.바카라
North Korea's UN Ambassador Kim Song insisted that its satellite launches 바카라 and it had a successful one last November 바카라 are 바카라the legitimate and universal right of a sovereign state바카라 under international law and the Outer Space Treaty. He stressed that reconnaissance satellites are not only needed to strengthen its self-defence capabilities but to defend its sovereignty.
Kim told the Security Council that the 바카라massive deployment of strategic assets and aggressive war exercises바카라 by the United States on the Korean Peninsula and in the region have broken all records and destroyed the military balance.
This has turned the Korean Peninsula 바카라into the most fragile zone in the world, fraught with the danger of outbreak of war바카라, he said, claiming that joint military exercises since the beginning of the year are 바카라a US-led nuclear war rehearsal바카라.
The DPRK ambassador said the Security Council shouldn't waste time debating the legitimate rights of a sovereign state, but should direct its attention to putting an immediate end to the killing of civilians in Gaza, 바카라which continues unabated under US patronage바카라.
South Korea's UN Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said it should be his country 바카라 not the DPRK 바카라 that should claim the right to self-defence.
He said the DPRK's nuclear policy and its rhetoric 바카라are getting increasing aggressive and hostile, and Pyongyang no longer views its nuclear arsenal as just a deterrent against the United States, 바카라but instead as a means to attack my country바카라.
He quoted DPRK leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, saying two weeks ago that the only purpose of their tactical nuclear weapons 바카라is to teach a lesson to Seoul바카라.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood urged the Security Council to condemn the DPRK's launches and hold it accountable for violating UN sanctions.
바카라But two council members, China and Russia, continuously block the Security Council from speaking against the DPRK's behaviour with one voice and makes us all less safe,바카라 he said.
Wood also accused the DPRK of unlawfully transferring dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine, 바카라prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people바카라.
He rejected as 바카라groundless바카라 and disingenuous바카라 claims by the DPRK and its supporters on the council that its missile launches are a response to US-led military exercises.
Russia's UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered that 바카라one of the key catalysts for the growing tensions in the region has been and remains the build-up of military activity by the US and its allies바카라.
US-led military drills against the DPRK and numerous other hostile acts with a threatening military component "are provoking countermeasures from North Korea, which is forced to take action to strengthen its national defense capacity,바카라 she said.
Evstogneeva claimed 바카라the unstable situation around the Korean Peninsula is of benefit to Washington, which continues to confidently and deliberately pursue the path of confrontation instead of dialogue바카라.
She also dismissed claims that Russia is engaging in illegal military and technical cooperation with the DPRK as 바카라absolutely unfounded바카라.
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong called the situation on the Korean Peninsula 바카라highly tense, with antagonism and confrontation escalating,바카라 and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any actions or rhetoric that might increase tension.
He warned that a planned large-scale joint military exercise on the peninsula in August 바카라practising a scenario involving a nuclear war바카라 will only increase tensions.
US envoy Wood retorted that 바카라the United States is in no way a threat to the DPRK,바카라 stressing that the US offer to reach out 바카라an open hand바카라 and hold talks with the DPRK without preconditions over the past few years 바카라has been met with a clenched fist바카라.
