North Korea and Russia had a disagreement regarding the United States of America (USA) and South Korea with their allies at the emergency meeting held at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 19th December 2023. North Korea named the last intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test as a “warning and countermeasure” and claimed the missile was carried out against the threats of USA and other hostile forces. [i]
North Korea’s UN Representative stated that this year is the “most dangerous year” in terms of military security situation in the Korean peninsula and emphasized that the joint military exercises of the US and South Korea increased. He also claimed that the US positioned nuclear-equipped submarines and other nuclear assets in the region, composing a “danger of nuclear war.” The USA and the allies criticized 5 North Korean ICBM tests, more than 25 ballistic missile tests and 3 satellite launches using ballistic missile technologies all happening this year, violated the UNSC resolution and threatened the peace and stability of the international society.[ii]
The UN Representative of the US Robert Wood, stated in his comment, that 10 states condemned North Korea’s last ICBM test on 18th December 2023 and all previous launches. On this topic, the North Korean president Kim Jong-un called on the international community to consider the country’s security concerns, pointing out that Pyongyang’s countermeasures and the right for self-defense were “absolutely reasonable and a normal reaction.”[iii] North Korea also stated that it will “continue to accumulate a more improved type of force to contain the threat of the US and its followers with immediate, devastated and decisive countermeasures.” [iv]
UNSC imposed sanctions, after North Korea’s first nuclear test in the year 2006 and has expanded these over the years. Nevertheless, the sanctions failed so far to restrain nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Ten Countries represented by Germany, Ecuador. France, Japan, Malta, South, Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States claimed that the silence of UNSC’s “sends the wrong message to Pyongyang”. Additionally, each UNSC member was called to overcome their long silence and to protect the nuclear proliferation regime.
On the other hand, Russia’s permanent Representative of UNSC Anna Evstigneeva commented the attempts to condemn Pyongyang as an “unilateral approach.” Stating that the situation was “heading towards a dangerous abyss”, she stressed out that both Pyongyang and Seoul legitimized their hostile steps as “self-defense” and criticized the USA for deploying a huge military force to the area. Evstigneeva stated that Russia requests to resolve all the problems on the Korean peninsula peacefully without external pressure in a diplomatic way.
UN representative of the US Robert Wood stated that his country’s military operations were for defense purposes and South Korea, Japan or the US aren’t the ones, but North Korea violated the UNSC resolution, and that Washington repeatedly tried to establish an unconditioned dialogue, but North Korea rejected this. [v]
In this context, there are two main views; whether North Korea sees these actions as a right for self-defense or threatens the international community with these actions. North Korea’s UN Representative Kim Song evaluates his countries actions as a “warning countermeasure” against threats from the US and other hostile forces. Due to this perspective, North Korea found itself in a defensive position after increasing military activities and positioning nuclear assets in the region. However, this argument remains weak, in the context of North Korea’s previous similar activities of violating the UNSC resolution.
The international community considers these actions of North Korea as “violating the UNSC resolution.” Especially the US and its allies express their concerns that North Korea causes regional instability. However, only Russia classifies this situation as a defensive reaction of North Korea and argues that the international community should embrace a more balanced approach on this issue. Ultimately the situation demonstrates the complexity of North Korea’s relationship with international communities and the potential for regional instability. The international community’s response to such crisis may require developing a more effective strategy to strengthen diplomatic and political solutions and ensure regional security. In this context, it will be an important step to increase dialogue and sensibility between two parties.
[i] “North Korea and Russia Clash with US, South Korea and Allies over Pyongyang’s Latest Missile Launch”, Associated Press News, https://apnews.com/article/un-us-north-korea-missiles-clash-russia-643f35bc7a81cb48c06ee57358f6f2ee, (Date Accession: 20.12.2023).
[ii] “North Korea and Russia Clash with US, South Korea and Allies over Pyongyang’s Latest Missile Launch”, Arab News, https://www.arabnews.com/node/2428781/world, (Date Accession: 20.12.2023).
[iii] “North Korea and Russia Clash with US, South Korea and Allies over Pyongyang’s Latest Missile Launch”, The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/19/un-us-north-korea-missiles-clash-russia/2888ef4c-9ed4-11ee-9e0f-972979a6c22b_story.html, (Date Accession: 20.12.2023).
[iv] Ibıd.
[v] Ibıd.
