US to introduce new UNSC resolution to strengthen sanctions on N Korea

WASHINGTON: The United States (US) will introduce a new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that will update and strengthen sanctions against North Korea, the head of the US mission to the UN said Friday.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also called for full implementation of the existing sanctions on North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from engaging in further provocations, reported Yonhap news agency.

"And because of North Korea's increasingly dangerous provocations, the US will be introducing a chapter seven Security Council resolution to update and strengthen the sanctions regime," the US envoy said in a UNSC meeting held in New York to discuss North Korea's latest missile launch.

Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, following 11 previous rounds of missile tests this year that included the firing of a new hypersonic missile and an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The latest missile launch also ended the North's self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing that had been in place since November 2017.

"The Security Council must speak publicly and with one voice to condemn the North Korea's unlawful actions and encourage North Korea to return to the negotiating table," Thomas-Greenfield told the council meeting, broadcast live.

The rare public meeting of the UNSC on North Korea, the first of its kind since 2017, came at the request of the US and five other members of the 15-member council, including Britain and France.

The diplomat reiterated that the US remains open to dialogue with North Korea, but insisted that they cannot stand idly by until Pyongyang returns to dialogue.

It was not immediately clear when the US planned to introduce a new UNSC resolution, while whether it will be adopted also remains to be seen.

The US had previously sought to impose additional UNSC sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang's repeated missile provocations this year, but efforts have so far failed due to opposition from Russia and China, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the Security Council.

-- BERNAMA