Seoul welcomes UN’s speedy warning to North Korea

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

South Korea welcomed Wednesday the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) rapid response to North Korea’s triple ballistic missile test earlier this week.

The North carried out its latest launches Monday in defiance of the international community, as UN resolutions bar the reclusive state from developing ballistic missile technology.

Then on Tuesday (New York time), the UNSC adopted a statement condemning North Korea’s provocation as a “grave violation” of the country’s global obligations.

Seoul’s foreign ministry released its own media statement hours later welcoming “the Security Council's prompt announcement of denouncement”.

The ministry praised what it saw as “an expression of unified determination” from the UNSC, given the required consent of China and Russia.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has held talks with both country’s leaders since Saturday, with Beijing in particular being seen as carrying a vital influence over Pyongyang considering their traditional alliance.

The UNSC also threatened to take “further significant measures” on top of March’s strengthened sanctions against North Korea – echoing a similar warning late last month after the North carried out a submarine-launched ballistic missile test.

But North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un called this week for more “miraculous” nuclear achievements, suggesting that Pyongyang is prepared to continue ignoring outside denuclearization demands.