China Opposes UN Security Council Meeting on North Korea
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China opposes a planned United Nations Security Council meeting on the human rights situation in North Korea because it will only "intensify confrontation and antagonism," a spokesperson for China's UN mission in New York said on Monday.
The United States, Albania and Japan requested the meeting, which will be held on Thursday. It will be the first formal public meeting of the 15-member council on the issue since 2017, Reuters reported.
"China sees no added value for the council to have such a meeting and will be against it," said China's UN mission spokesperson, adding that the council's mandate was "maintenance of international peace and security, not human rights."
"A council meeting on human rights in the DPRK falls outside the council's mandate, politicizes human rights issues, and only serves to intensify confrontation and antagonism," said the spokesperson, referring to the country's formal name - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an increase in missile production to help secure "overwhelming military power" and be ready for war, state media KCNA said on Monday, as South Korea and the United States gear up for annual military drills.
It was not immediately clear if China would call a procedural vote on Thursday to try and block the Security Council meeting, but a senior US official has said they were confident they have the minimum nine votes needed to move ahead. Vetoes do not apply on procedural issues.
North Korea has repeatedly rejected accusations of abuses and blames sanctions for a dire humanitarian situation. Since 2006 it has been under UN sanctions over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programs.