UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on North Korea missile situation

 

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 North Korea's launching of two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday has sparked an international outcry, prompting the UN to scramble for a diplomatic response.

Several countries condemned the test-firings, calling the North's move a threat to international security.
The United Nations Security Council has decided to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday on the situation on the Korean peninsula, where both South and North Korea have recently carried out ballistic missile tests.

A diplomatic source told AFP that the meeting was requested by France and Estonia and will be held informally, behind closed doors.

This comes after the UN expressed deep concern over the latest missile launches by North Korea.

"We are very much aware of the media reports, and are concerned by the latest developments that we've seen. As we've said before diplomatic engagement remains the only pathway to sustainable peace and complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the isolated regime fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Wednesday, local time, after testing a new cruise missile over the weekend.
The United States has condemned the launch, calling the act a violation of Security Council resolutions that poses a threat to its neighbors and the international community.
A State Department official said, however, the country remains committed to dialogue with the North.

"We have no hostile intent towards the DPRK. We've been very clear about that. What we seek to do is to reduce the threat to the United States, to our allies in the region, and that includes the ROK and Japan. And we think we can do that through diplomacy..."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, has denounced the launch as quote "simply outrageous" and a threat to the peace and security of the region.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.

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