UN condemns North Korea for ballistic missile tests

The 14 members of the UN Security Council, including China, have strongly condemned North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles.

The Security Council issued a unanimous statement late on Friday, agreeing to take “significant measures” in response to the latest series of missile launches.

North Korea test-fired several ballistic missiles in July and August, including one from a submarine towards Japan on Wednesday.

Its leader Kim Jong-un said that the missile test was the “greatest success”, putting the US mainland and the Pacific “within the striking range”.

Earlier this month, the Security Council had failed to agree on a US-drafted statement to condemn North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters.

China had wanted the statement to oppose deploying “any new anti-ballistic missile stronghold in Northeast Asia with an excuse of dealing with threats of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.”

It strongly opposes the USA’s plans to base a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-missile system in South Korea, which it says would worsen tension on the Korean peninsula.

However, Friday’s statement did not include such language.