US, China, and Russia Clash Over North Korea’s Missile Launches at UN Meeting

The United Nations Security Council meets in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Jan. 26, 2019. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The United States urged China and Russia to “stop shielding” North Korea from any sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, citing North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful missile launches.

At a March 20 meeting of the security council in New York, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said China and Russia’s “obstructionism in the council is encouraging the DPRK to launch ballistic missiles with impunity,” referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

China and Russia previously vetoed a resolution that would have tightened sanctions on North Korea for its missile launches, which have been banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions since 2006.

“China and Russia will tell you they are not defending the DPRK. But their actions speak louder than words,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“How many times must the DPRK violate its U.N. Security Council resolution obligations before China and Russia stop shielding the DPRK regime?” she added.

Chinese and Russian envoys blamed the United States for increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula through its “unprecedented military exercises” with regional allies. Russia said the drills “are completely turning everything upside down.”

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., speaks during a special session of the General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York on March 2, 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In response, Thomas-Greenfield clarified that U.S. joint drills are defensive in nature and aimed at bringing peace and stability to the region. She reiterated that Washington has “no hostile intentions” for North Korea.

Thomas-Greenfield said that easing U.N. sanctions on North Korea would reward the regime “for doing nothing to comply with council resolutions” and deprive North Koreans of humanitarian assistance.

China and Russia also raised concerns over the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom—namely the AUKUS pact—which will see Australia acquire its first nuclear-powered submarines.

Geng Shuang, China’s deputy ambassador to the U.N., referred to the AUKUS pact as “the elephant in the room,” while the United Kingdom’s representative argued that AUKUS does not violate the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty.

“There is simply no comparison between AUKUS and the destabilizing threat that DPRK poses to the region,” said UK Ambassador James Kariuki, according to the U.N. press release.

The United States also released its 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday, detailing North Korea’s arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, torture, and degrading treatment and punishments (pdf).

North Korea Condemns UN Meeting

North Korea has vowed to counter “the illegal human rights campaign by the U.S. and its followers with the most powerful means,” state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

North Korea accused the United States of misusing the United Nations to blackmail other sovereign states.

File photo provided by North Korean authorities shows Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 8, 2023. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File

The U.N. meeting took place just days after North Korea launched its largest Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea on March 16 in retaliation for the U.S.-South Korea Freedom Shield exercises.

The Hwasong-17 is known to be North Korea’s largest ICBM, estimated to have a range of over 13,000 kilometers (8,078 miles), making it capable of striking any location in the continental United States.

The United States has persisted in engaging “direct talks” with North Korea without preconditions in favor of a diplomatic solution, but North Korea has rebuffed these efforts.