UNITED NATIONS, September 9. /TASS/. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned North Korea’s latest nuclear test and called on the United Nations Security Council to take "appropriate action" in response of Pyongyang’s action undermining peace and security in the region.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the underground nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This is yet another brazen breach of the resolutions of the Security Council," Ban said on Friday.
"For the fifth time in recent years, the DPRK alone has broken the international norm against nuclear tests," he said. "This unacceptable act endangers peace and security in the region and is another vivid reminder of the urgent need to strengthen the global nuclear test ban regime."
"I count on the Security Council to remain united and take appropriate action. We must urgently break this accelerating spiral of escalation," Ban stressed.
The United Nations secretary general reminded that the Security Council has already taken a series of sanction measure against North Korea but they failed to force the North Korean leadership to abandon nuclear weapons. He called on all countries to strictly obey the United Nations Security Council resolutions and cooperate in their implementation to ensure maximum efficiency of the sanction regime.
He called on North Korea to "to reverse its course and commit to a path of denuclearization." "Rather than pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, the DPRK should be promoting the well-being of the country’s people," he said.
The United Nations Security Council is to have a meeting later on Friday to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and possible measures in response to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, the firth one in the past ten years.
Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said the Security Council should collectively condemn Pyongyang’s activities and discuss possible response measures. Britain’s Permanent Representative, Matthew Rycroft, said London would seek to have the anti-Pyongyang sanctions be toughened and the list of those covered by these sanctions be extended.
The United Nations Security Council resolutions ban Pyongyang to engage in any activities linked with the development of nuclear weapons and their delivery means. In March, The United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2270 that dramatically toughens the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. But despite this, North Korea has conducted more than ten missile tests in the recent months, with the latest test carried out on September 5. The United Nations Security Council condemned these tests and warned Pyongyang of further sanctions in case it continues to violate resolutions.
On Friday, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test. According to South Korea’s ministry of national defense, it was the most powerful missile ever tested by Pyongyang. The four previous nuclear tests were conducted by North Korea in 2006, in 2009, in 2013 and in January 2016.