U.S. eyes additional UN action on N. Korea after missile tests

[left-of-center2012]

The Biden administration said Monday it's looking at “additional actions” that the United Nations might take to respond to North Korea’s recent missile tests. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield wasn’t specific about what those actions might entail, but noted that the UN Security Council had met last week and renewed the mandate of experts who monitor sanctions against the North. The council is also expected to hold closed-door discussions on North Korea on Tuesday.

“We’re looking at additional actions that we might take,” Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and others Security Council members. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan will be meeting in Washington soon with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea to discuss North Korea strategy as the administration finalizes a review of how to approach the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who recently returned from Tokyo and Seoul, said the three countries are united in dealing with the challenges posed by Pyongyang.

“What we’re seeing from Pyongyang in terms of these provocations does nothing to shake the resolve of our three countries along with allies and partners around the world to approach North Korea from a position of strength in order to diminish the threat that it poses to the region and beyond,” Blinken said.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/mar/29/us-eyes-additional-un-action-on-n-korea-after-miss/

[soryang]

1. Good luck

I don't think they'll get a resolution to go beyond UN res 2397 which authorized sanctions for long range ballistic missiles and nuclear tests by North Korea. The general proscription against North Korean ballistic missile launches in UN resolution 2397, was not entirely supported by an enforcement mechanism. In other words, there is wiggle room over shorter ranged missiles for North Korea. Evidently the Security Council compromised on this language. So a new resolution would be required. Don't think they'll get it from the Security Council because both Russia and China disagree with the US approach to the negotiating process. Resolution 2397 in paragraph 26 refers to the Joint Statement of Sep 9, 2005, in the fourth round of the Six Party Talks, which reads:

5) The six parties agreed to take coordinated steps to implement the aforementioned consensus in a phased manner in line with the principle of "commitment for commitment, action for action."

Since Singapore the US abandoned this "phased" approach emphasizing reciprocity and adopted the so called "one bundle" approach, aka "the Libyan Approach," and "the all or nothing approach." Only Japan of the six parties agrees with this US approach.


Resolutions by the General Assembly are generally not binding. The US could try to get a General Assembly resolution, and then implement some sort of escalatory move unilaterally or in conjunction with it's closest allies. While the boilerplate language is in the article about how unified Japan and South Korea are with the US view of the North Korean situation, it isn't true that South Korea agrees with the US negotiating approach. They only agree with the goal, denuclearization.

(Picture source Channel A Top Ten News 5.7.19) North Korea tactical guided missile left. South Korean Hyunmoo tactical guided missile right. Both solid fueled.


Solid Ambitions: The US South Korea Missile Guidelines and Space Launchers
Ankit Panda Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Aug 25, 2020

The Hyunmoo-4 is an 800-kilometer-range system that entered testing for the first time earlier in 2020. Moon applauded it recently for exhibiting “close to the world’s heaviest warhead weight,” making full use of the 2017 update to the missile guidelines. While this missile is thought to feature a 2,000-kilogram payload, if it were to be launched with a payload half that weight, the Hyunmoo-4 would perform as a medium-range missile (using the U.S. government definition of missiles with ranges between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometers).

Little is known authoritatively about the Hyunmoo-4 beyond the fact that it entered testing this year. Its reported payload weight has appeared in multiple South Korean press reports and is consistent with the general direction of the Hyunmoo program under ADD’s auspices. For instance, the Hyunmoo-2C—also an 800-kilometer-range system, but with a smaller payload—was publicized during testing in 2017 at the height of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/08/25/solid-ambitions-u.s.-south-korea-missile-guidelines-and-space-launchers-pub-82557