North Korea "bitterly condemns" UN talks on satellite launch

WORLD  04 June 2023 - 22:36

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Jo Jong, sharply criticized the UN Security Council (UNSC) for a "most unfair" meeting held over Pyongyang's failed spy satellite launch, DW reports.

"I am very unpleased that the UNSC so often calls to account the DPRK's exercise of its rights as a sovereign state at the request of the US," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, referring to North Korea by its official name.

"(I) bitterly condemn and reject it as the most unfair and biased act of interfering in its internal affairs and violating its sovereignty," she said.

North Korea's new Chillima-1 rocket carrying a spy satellite lost thrust and crashed into the sea with its payload on May 31, Pyongyang said in a rare same-day announcement, adding another test will be conducted soon without specifying a date.

The United States and South Korea, close allies, denounced the launch, saying it violated UN resolutions barring a nuclear-armed country from any tests using ballistic missile technology.

Rosemary DiCarlo, UN's under-secretary-general for political and peace-building affairs called the security council out on its "lack of unity and action" against North Korea's frequent tests.

The UN Security Council has a total of 15 members, including the five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. The permanent members hold veto power which North Korean allies China and Russia have used in the past to block UN action on Pyongyang.

In her statement on June 4, Kim Yo Jong also criticized the security council, but for being a "political appendage" of the US, saying the recent UN meeting was convened following America's "gangster-like request."

She further said the UN Council was discriminatory since other nations have launched thousands of satellites which are already operating in space. Her country's attempt to position a spy satellite is a legitimate step to respond to military threats posed by the US and its allies, she said.

North Korea on June 4 also threatened to not notify the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) of future satellite launches in advance in protest of its condemnation of the several missile tests.

The IMO, on Wednesday, adopted a rare resolution denouncing North Korea for conducting the satellite launch without proper notification which "seriously threatened the safety of seafarers and international shipping."

Since the start of 2022, Kim has carried out over 100 missile tests in what he called a warning over expanded military drills between the US and South Korea.

Caliber.Az