India calls attention to threats from N.Korea’s missile tech proliferation

United Nations, Nov 22

India has called attention to the threat posed by North Korea's missile technology proliferation to New Delhi's security and joined the US and eight other countries to demand UN Security Council action against Pyongyang.

"Proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies is a matter of concern, as they have an adverse impact on peace and security in the region, including on India," India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj told the Security Council at its meeting on Monday on North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week.

Kamboj's mention of nuclear and missile technology proliferation putting India at risk is a reference to the well-documented swap of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear technology for North Korea's missile technology, although she did not name the countries.

"We condemn the recent ICBM launch," she said, adding that the series of missile "launches constitute a violation of the resolutions of the Security Council".

Reiterating support for making the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, she said: "We hope the international community and the Security Council can be united on this front."

China and Russia have been protecting North Korea and they vetoed a Council resolution in May to tighten sanctions against the country and have blocked any statement coming out of the Council.

After the Council meeting, Kamboj joined the permanent representatives of nine other countries, including Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the US and Barbara Woodward of the UK, to call for Council action against North Korea, which is formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK).

They demanded that the Council condemn Pyongyang's missile tests with a unified voice and "take action to limit the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancement, especially as it relates to nuclear missile technologies in the DPRK, the region, and beyond".

"The DPRK is acting with impunity in the face of the Security Council's inaction," they said in reference to China and Russia preventing stronger action.

While acknowledging that the "upward spiral" in tensions on the Korean Peninsula was a matter of concern for Beijing, China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun said at the Council meeting that it should not "always pressure or sanction DPRK".

North Korea has tested eight ICBMs so far this year; the latest on November 18 landed about 200 km from Japanese waters and was reported to be a Hwason-17 missile, the most powerful known to be in its arsenal with the range to hit most of the US.

--IANS