The United States and its partners call for the application of sanctions against North Korea

The United States and several allies on Thursday issued a joint condemnation of North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches and called for the full implementation of UN sanctions.

“It is extremely important that member states take the necessary steps to implement the sanctions in their jurisdictions or risk giving the DPRK regime a blank check to push forward with an armament agenda,” the ambassador said. American Linda Thomas-Greenfield, using the acronym for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

She spoke to reporters at the United Nations, accompanied by her counterparts from Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. All but Japan are currently members of the Security Council.

This is the second time in 10 days that the council has met behind closed doors to discuss North Korean missile launches.

Since the start of the year, North Korea has carried out two tests of what it described as a hypersonic missile, launched a pair of ballistic missiles from a train and fired a pair of tactical guided missiles from an airport. from Pyongyang.

“We will continue to denounce the DPRK’s destabilizing actions as affronts to regional and international peace and security,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “We call on the DPRK to stop these illegal actions and resume dialogue.”

North Korea has ignored repeated offers from the United States to restart talks, saying Washington must first abandon its “hostile policy”.

Thomas-Greenfield also called on the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea to support sanctions designations against individuals and entities contributing to Pyongyang’s illicit weapons programs, including five individuals that states United proposed sanctioning last week.

Diplomats said Thursday that China and Russia were delaying designations. The committee must unanimously accept the new designations.