North Korea: US asks to hold emergency UN Security Council meeting

North Korea is moving ahead with testing its missiles despite international condemnation. Following Pyongyang’s latest test launch, diplomats have revealed that the US is asking to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

Diplomats said that the US is asking for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss North Korea following its test launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile, according to Al Jazeera. This follows the confirmation that the latest test launch was of the Hwasong-12 missile, leading to concerns that Pyongyang could resume its testing of long-range ballistic missiles. The latest launch is also the seventh test to come from North Korea in January and the first since 2017 that a missile of such size was tested.

The UN Security Council is set to meet for a closed-door meeting Thursday. Russia, who is the president of the council for February, will confirm the timing of the meeting.

This also comes as the US has been pushing for stricter sanctions on North Korea over its missile testing. Washington has already unilaterally sanctioned five North Koreans, one Russian, and one Russian company over the recent tests. Washington also proposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the five North Koreans, but the proposal was opposed by China and Russia at the Security Council.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the latest test launch and urged North Korea not to take any further counterproductive actions, according to a UN spokesperson. Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq called the tests “a breaking of the DPRK’s announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions.”

North Korean state news outlet KCNA confirmed that the test launch carried out Sunday was of its Hwasong-12 missile. Both Japan and South Korea detected the launch of the missile and condemned the launch as a threat to stability in the region. South Korean officials have also warned that this may be a sign that North Korea is resuming testing of long-range weapons and nuclear bombs.

“The inspection firing test was conducted for the purpose of selectively inspecting the ground-to-ground mid-range long-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12 and verifying the overall accuracy of this weapon system,” reported KCNA.