US calls UN meeting over North Korea’s failed spy satellite launch
The United States has requested a UN Security Council meeting to address North Korea’s recent attempt to launch its first spy satellite, which ultimately ended in failure. The US condemned the launch, stating that it used ballistic missile technology in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and posed a risk to the stability of the regional security situation and beyond.
The launch took place on Wednesday, May 31, with both the booster and payload falling into the sea, and triggered emergency notifications and temporary evacuation advisories in certain areas of South Korea and Japan. Around 6:30am local time, air raid alarms blared throughout Seoul, South Korea’s capital, prompting residents to brace themselves for a possible evacuation. Following approximately 20 minutes of uncertainty, the government withdrew the alert and subsequent notifications clarified that the city’s warning had been an error.
Nate Evans, the spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations, announced that the US called for an open meeting on the launch, which means the proceedings would be streamed live. A UN diplomat revealed that the call was made jointly with Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, and Britain.
Following the unsuccessful launch, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, declared that her country would soon put a military spy satellite into orbit and vowed to increase Pyongyang’s military surveillance capabilities. Speaking in Tokyo on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed that “North Korea’s dangerous and destabilising nuclear and missile programmes threaten peace and stability in the region”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that any launch by Pyongyang using ballistic missile technology breaches Security Council resolutions, according to a spokesperson. In her statement, Kim Yo Jong argued that the criticisms of the launch were “self-contradiction” as the US and other countries have already launched “thousands of satellites”.
