The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch and threatened to ‘take further significant measures’ against Pyongyang.
This comes day after the United States, Japan and South Korea requested the urgent meeting after North Korea announced it had successfully tested a new missile on Sunday, the first launch since US President Donald Trump took office.
Council members including China, Pyongyang's main ally, agreed on a US-drafted statement describing the test-firing of the missile as a ‘grave violation’ of UN resolutions.
"We call on all members of the Security Council to use every available resource to make it clear to the North Korean regime -- and its enablers -- that these launches are unacceptable. It is time to hold North Korea accountable - not with our words, but with our actions," US Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement.
In Washington, President Trump vowed to deal with North Korea ‘very strongly’, calling the Asian country a ‘big, big problem’.
"We have problems all over the Middle East. We have problems just about every corner of the globe no matter where you look," Trump said.
On Monday, the Pentagon had strongly condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launch and vowed to take all necessary measures to deter and defeat threats to US and ally territories and citizens.
North Korea claimed on Monday it had successfully test-fired Pukguksong-2, a surface-to-surface medium-to-long-range ballistic missile, and its top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing, according to the state news agency KCNA.
