11/5/22, 6:41 PM US, allies clash with China, Russia over NKorea missiles

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US, allies clash with China, Russia over

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FILE - This photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what it says a test-fire of a Hwasong-17
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 24, 2022. Independent
journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government.
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EDITH M. LEDERER
Sat, November 5, 2022 at 7:34 AM

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and its allies clashed
with China and Russia on Friday over North Korea’s escalating
ballistic missile launches and American-led military exercises in
South Korea, again preventing any action by the deeply divided U.N.
Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said North Korea’s

“staggering 59 ballistic missile launches this year,” including 13 since
Oct. 27 and one that made an “unprecedented impact” about 50
kilometers (30 miles) from South Korea’s shore, are about more
than advancing Pyongyang’s military capabilities and seek to raise
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11/5/22, 6:41 PM US, allies clash with China, Russia over NKorea missiles

She said 13 of the 15 Security Council members have condemned

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North Korea’s actions since the beginning of the year, but
Pyongyang has been protected by Russia and China who have “bent
over backwards” to justify repeated violations of U.N. sanctions by
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, the country’s
official name.

“And, in turn, they have enabled the DPRK and made a mockery of
this council,” she said.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun countered that the DPRK

missile launches are directly linked to the re-launch of large-scale
U.S.-South Korean military exercises after a five-year break, with
hundreds of warplanes involved. He also pointed to the U.S.
Defense Department’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review which he said
envisages the DPRK’s use of nuclear weapons and claims that
ending the DPRK regime is one of the strategy’s main goals.

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Anna Evstigneeva blamed the

significantly worsening situation on the Korean peninsula on “the
desire of Washington to force Pyongyang to unilaterally disarm by
using sanctions and exerting pressure and force.”

She called the U.S.-South Korean exercises that began on Oct. 31

unprecedented in size, with about 240 military aircraft, and claimed
they are “essentially a rehearsal for conducting massive strikes on
the territory of the DPRK.”

America’s Thomas-Greenfield responded to claims by China and

Russia that the military drills were stoking tensions on the Korean
peninsula saying: “This is nothing but a regurgitation of DPRK
propaganda.” She said the longstanding defensive military exercises
“pose no threat to anyone, let alone the DPRK.”

“In contrast, just last month, the DPRK said its flurry of recent
launches were the simulated use of tactical battlefield nuclear
weapons to `hit and wipe out’ potential U.S. and Republic of Korea
targets,” she said. “The DPRK is simply using this as an excuse to
continue to advance its unlawful programs.”

The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first

nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years
seeking to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut
off funding. In May, however, China and Russia blocked a Security
Council resolution that would have toughened sanctions over the
missile launches, in the first serious rift on the council over the
sanctions against North Korea.

That rift remains and appears to have grown deeper, but Russia,
China and the United States did agree on one thing: the need for
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11/5/22, 6:41 PM US, allies clash with China, Russia over NKorea missiles

renewed talks and a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean

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peninsula.

China’s Zun called on the U.S. “to stop unilaterally playing up

tensions and confrontation” and respond “to the legitimate and
reasonable concerns of the DPRK to create conditions for the
resumption of meaningful dialogue.” And he said the Security
Council, rather than seeking additional pressure on the DPRK,
should contribute “to the restart of dialogue and negotiation and
resolving the humanitarian and livelihood difficulties faced by the
DPRK.”

Russia’s Evstigneeva said further sanctions would threaten North

Korean citizens “with unacceptable social, economic and
humanitarian upheavals,” and reiterated the need “for preventive
diplomacy and the importance of finding a political diplomatic
solution and real steps by Washington, more than just promises to
establish substantive dialogue.”

Thomas-Greenfield said even in the face of the DPRK’s escalating

missile launches, “the United States remains committed to a
diplomatic solution” and has conveyed its request to the DPRK for
talks at all levels of the U.S. government.

After the meeting, the 10 elected council members joined in a

statement condemning the launches, calling on the DPRK to halt its
nuclear and missile programs, and reiterating their commitment to
diplomacy and dialogue.

The U.S., Britain, France, South Korea, Japan and others then read a
statement calling on all countries to join in condemning North
Korea's “destabilizing behavior and urging the DPRK to abandon its
unlawful weapons programs and engage in diplomacy toward
denuclearization."

Before the council meeting, former U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-

moon told a meeting of Associated Press executives that he is
deeply concerned at North Korea's “unacceptable behavior" and
expressed hope that the Security Council would take “very decisive
and strong measures."

North Korea is the only country since the end of World War II that
has declared it will use nuclear weapons in a first strike “when they
feel that any crisis may be imminent to them," he said, calling this
“arbitrary" and “irresponsible."

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