(United Nations) The United States, Albania, France, Ireland, Japan and the United Kingdom called on Monday in a joint declaration on North Korea “to refrain from any further destabilizing action” after its firing last week from a hypersonic missile.
“We call on North Korea to refrain from further destabilizing action, abandon its banned weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and engage in constructive dialogue towards our common goal of complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula , said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“These actions increase the risk of error and escalation and constitute a significant threat to regional stability,” added the diplomat, reading the text common to the six countries before the start of a closed meeting of the Council of security on the last North Korean missile fire.
“It is North Korea which must now choose dialogue and peace rather than its illegal and threatening weapons program,” insisted the American ambassador.
“Each missile launch serves not only to advance North Korea’s own capabilities, but also to expand the range of weapons available for export to its customers and illicit arms dealers around the world,” he said. she estimated.
The Security Council session was requested by five of the forum’s fifteen members, the United States, Albania, France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. According to diplomats, no joint declaration was expected at the end of the meeting, Russia and China no longer being in unison with the West on the North Korean file since the unanimous adoption in 2017 of a triple series of economic sanctions against Pyongyang.
Thursday, the official North Korean agency KCNA had affirmed that the missile, fired Wednesday, January 5, carried a “hypersonic warhead” which “reached with precision a target 700 km away”. Pyongyang says it needs its arsenal to defend against a possible American invasion.