United Nations, United States, April 18 (Alliance News):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” the recent launch of what North Korea said was a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, an official told the Security Council Monday.
The North has hailed the launch as a key breakthrough in its nuclear counterattack capabilities under leader Kim Jong Un.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his calls on the DPRK to immediately desist from taking any further destabilizing actions,” said Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari, using an acronym for the North’s official name.
Testing the more technologically advanced solid-fuel missile was one of Kim’s major goals in his military modernization campaign, announced in his New Year report.
Such missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder to detect and destroy pre-emptively.
Guterres called on North Korea to “fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions, and to resume dialogue leading to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said Khiari, whose purview includes Asia.
In a joint statement Monday, nine Council members plus South Korea condemned the launch “in the strongest possible terms.”
“This type of irresponsible activity, alongside destabilizing messages, is imprudent and dangerous, and we must not condone it as business as usual,” they said, calling on all UN member states to “join us in strongly co