South Korea's top envoy at the United Nations called Monday on permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to take "extraordinary responsibility" to curb North Korea's nuclear provocations.
Addressing a session of the council, Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook stressed that Pyongyang is the "first and only case" that has flouted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime and openly developed nuclear weapons and delivery systems.
Hwang said the UNSC's response to the North's nuclear provocations will serve as a "litmus test on the credibility and the viability" of the council and its role in upholding the global NPT regime.
"In this regard, the five nuclear weapon states under the NPT regime, which coincide with the five permanent members of the Security Council, should show extraordinary responsibility," he said.
Under the NPT, five nations -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France -- are recognized as nuclear-weapon states. Pyongyang withdrew from the NPT in 2003.
"Even as we speak now, the DPRK is buying enough time to further advance its unlawful nuclear and missile programs according to its own plan, which aims to deploy its nuclear arsenal for full-fledged operation, taking advantage of the weakened implementation of Security Council sanctions," the envoy said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Since the beginning of 2022, Pyongyang has launched more than 80 ballistic missiles, including last week's test-firing of a new solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile.
China and Russia, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the council, have blocked UNSC meetings held since last year to impose additional sanctions on North Korea in response to its military provocations.
Following the latest UNSC meeting, Seoul's foreign ministry said it will continue efforts to lead the Security Council members toward dealing with the North's continued provocations.
"We maintain the position that a resolute and unified response at the UNSC level is necessary in dealing with North Korea's repeated violations of Security Council resolutions," Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for the ministry, said at a regular press briefing.
Source: Yonhap News Agency