UN Security Council fails to pass N. Korea resolution due to opposition from China, Russia
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield is seen speaking in a Security Council meeting held in New York, May 26, before the 15-member council voted on a U.S.-proposed resolution on North Korea in this image captured from the website of the U.N. Yonhap
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) failed to pass a resolution to impose additional sanctions on North Korea, Thursday, for its recent missile tests due to opposition from China and Russia.
"With the adoption of this resolution, we can send a message to all proliferators that we will not stand for their actions that seek to undermine international peace and security," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, urging all council members to vote in favor.
Thirteen members of the 15-member council voted in favor of the U.S.-proposed resolution.
China and Russia, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the council and close allies of North Korea, voted against the resolution, effectively blocking its passage.
Washington proposed the new sanctions resolution as the North has staged multiple missile tests since the start of the year.
Pyongyang launched three ballistic missiles, including an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile, earlier this week, marking its 17th show of force of the year.
In a “prebuttal” to Thursday's scheduled UNSC vote, China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said Beijing would oppose any attempt to create confrontation or tension in Northeast Asia.
"We do not think additional sanctions will be helpful in responding to the current situation," he told reporters in New York earlier in the day, according to an AP report.
Thomas-Greenfield earlier said China and Russia, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the Security Council and close allies of North Korea, have blocked "every attempt to enforce and to update DPRK sanctions" over the past four years, allowing the recalcitrant country to continue its "unlawful" activities.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
"These countries' attempt to defend the DPRK should not go unnoticed by this council or the world," Thomas-Greenfield said. (Yonhap)