US accuses Russia and China of ‘shamelessly’ shielding North Korea

UN ambassadors trade barbs over North Korea’s test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week

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A North Korean Hwasong-19 missile being launched last week. Photo: KCNA via KNS / AFP

Published: 2:34am, 5 Nov 2024Updated: 10:38am, 5 Nov 2024

The United States on Monday called out Russia and China at the United Nations Security Council for “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate UN sanctions as Pyongyang pledged to accelerate building up its “nuclear force”.

“Russia and China have shamelessly protected Pyongyang from any reprisal, or even condemnation of its actions,” said deputy US ambassador to the UN Robert Wood.

“Shielded from closer scrutiny of its sanctions-violating activities by Moscow and Beijing, Pyongyang, unsurprisingly, has been emboldened to continue advancing its unlawful ballistic missile, nuclear and WMD programmes,” he said, using the acronym for weapons of mass destruction.

The 15-member council was meeting over Pyongyang’s test launch on Thursday of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Wood said Russia and China had prevented the council from issuing a statement of condemnation, a move that needs consensus.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photo: AFP

North Korea’s UN ambassador Kim Song told the Security Council that Pyongyang would accelerate the build-up of its nuclear force to “counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapons states”.

“The nuclear threat of United States against DPRK has already reached critical point in terms of its scale and danger,” Kim said. “Due to reckless moves of the United States, the potential situation is approaching the brink of war.” DPRK is the acronym for the country’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.