© KEYSTONE / AP / ÊúùÈÆÆÈÄö ‰ ø ° Á§æ
The indignation caused by the firing by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) clashed Thursday before the UN with the refusal of Beijing and Moscow to toughen the sanctions once morest Pyongyang. The craft can strike any part of the United States.
The American ambassador to the Security Council, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, denounced during the meeting at the UN the “increasingly dangerous provocations” of North Korea and announced that the United States would present a resolution in view “to strengthen the sanctions regime” adopted during a previous North Korean ICBM launch in 2017.
But Beijing and Moscow have ruled out any hardening. Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun even pleaded on the contrary for a “relief of sanctions at the right time”, while Russian diplomat Anna Evstigneeva expressed concern that a strengthening of sanctions “would threaten North Korean citizens with social problems. – economic and humanitarian unacceptable”.
The missile, fired on Thursday, flew higher and farther than any previous ICBM tested by the nuclear-armed country. Named Hwasong-17 and capable of striking any part of American territory, it landed in Japan’s exclusive economic maritime zone.
The monster”
The Hwasong-17, first unveiled in October 2020, is dubbed a “monster missile” by analysts. It had never been successfully tested before. Its launch resulted in new US sanctions.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea, hit by heavy international sanctions for its nuclear and weapons programs, from testing ballistic missiles. This did not prevent Pyongyang from carrying out a dozen tests of this type of weaponry since the start of the year.
But it was not until now intercontinental missiles, even if Washington and Seoul suspect the North Korean regime of having tested certain ICBM systems during these launches. Pyongyang carried out three ICBM launches in 2017. The device then tested, the Hwasong-15, was able to reach the United States.
According to Seoul, a missile test by North Korea on March 16 ended in failure, with the projectile exploding in the sky above Pyongyang shortly following launch.
Analysts expected Pyongyang, which will celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un on April 15, to put on a show of strength to mark the most important holiday on the North Korean political calendar.
