North Korea has tested dozens of ballistic missiles in the past eighteen months
Geneva:
North Korea’s UN envoy accused the United States and South Korea on Tuesday of bringing the Korean Peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war. The envoy told the UN General Assembly that as a result, his country had no choice but to further accelerate the build-up of its self-defense capabilities.
“The year 2023 is recorded as an extremely dangerous year,” Ambassador Kim Song told the final day of the annual UN meeting of world leaders. “The Korean Peninsula is in a hair-trigger situation with an imminent danger of the outbreak of nuclear war.”
“Given the prevailing circumstances, there is an urgent need for the DPRK (North Korea) to further accelerate the build-up of its self-defense capabilities to defend itself impregnabably,” Kim told the 193-member General Assembly.
North Korea has tested dozens of ballistic missiles in the past eighteen months. The United States has long warned that Pyongyang is ready for a seventh nuclear test.
Pyongyang says it is exercising its right to self-defense with its ballistic missile tests to protect its sovereignty and security interests against military threats.
“The DPRK remains steadfast and unchanged in its determination to firmly defend national sovereignty, security interests and the people’s welfare against hostile external threats,” Kim said.
North Korea – formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – has been under UN Security Council sanctions since 2006 over its missile and nuclear programs. The measures have been steadily tightened over the years.
In recent years, however, the 15-member Security Council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang. Russia and China, which hold veto powers along with the United States, Britain and France, have said more sanctions will not help and want such measures to be eased.
China and Russia say joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea are provoking Pyongyang, while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of encouraging North Korea by shielding the country from further sanctions.
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