UN Security Council to convene over NK provocations

The United Nations Security Council was held to discuss the issue of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launch at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Oct. 5 (local time). /Reuters Yonhap News

The United Nations Security Council said it would hold a meeting to discuss the North Korean issue at the UN Headquarters in New York at 3 p.m. on Friday, local time, amid the escalating North Korean provocations.

This meeting, held at the request of the US, is the first in a month since the public meeting held on Oct. 5 in the wake of North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

North Korea has recently increased the intensity of its provocations, firing a total of six ballistic missiles, including one intercontinental ballistic missile, on Thursday.

North Korea, which strongly opposed the South Korea-US joint aerial exercise "Vigilant Storm," on Wednesday fired a ballistic missile south of the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea for the first time since the division and fired at least 25 missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles, in just a single day.

Such ballistic missile launches are in violation of Security Council sanctions resolutions.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s test of an Intercontinental ballistic missile, which undermines the global nonproliferation regime and violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Twitter. “We call on North Korea to immediately cease its destabilizing actions.”

These comments are interpreted to mean that the Security Council will push for a statement condemning North Korea's provocations or a resolution to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

However, given that the recent split in the Security Council, it is unclear whether it will be able to take such an official response as the US intended.

China and Russia, which are permanent members of the UN Security Council, vetoed a resolution on additional sanctions led by the US in May.