The rocket test on Thursday was the largest North Korea has conducted since 2017. On Friday, the country’s state news agency KCNA announced that North Korea is now ready for a “long-term confrontation” with the United States. Later Friday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan commented on developments on board President Joe Biden’s plane en route to Poland.
“We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocations from North Korea, and we think they probably have more in stock,” Sullivan said.
Night to Saturday Norwegian time, Thursday’s rocket launch was the topic of a meeting of the UN Security Council. Following the meeting, 13 of the 15 member states, apart from China and Russia, supported a joint statement urging UN member states to do more.
– North Korea is showing its determination by continuing to develop its weapons program and by escalating its provocative behavior. Nevertheless, the Security Council has remained silent, the statement said.
At the Security Council meeting, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated that a resolution is needed to update and strengthen sanctions against North Korea. China, for its part, called for “caution and common sense.”
– Not everything is quiet on the international front. No party should take action that could lead to increased tensions, said China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun.
Russia also warned against strengthening sanctions, stating that North Korean citizens could be affected by “unacceptable socio-economic and humanitarian problems”.
–
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/5RNV4YTUKFBCXBKURJUUEQI5MA.jpg "Coronavirus Peru: COVID-19: third dose vaccination for adolescents from 12 to 17 years old starts this Saturday 26 | COVID-19 | Minsa | NMR | PERU")
