UN condemns DPR Korea’s ballistic missile launch (UN News, 22 May 2017)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Pyongyang to return to the path of denuclearization saying the latest ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a threat to peace and security in the region. DPRK fired the missile while the UN chief was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum. Addressing President Xi Jinping, Mr. Guterres highlighted the shared aims of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as deepening connectivity in infrastructure, trade and finance. The missile was reportedly fired from a base in the north-west DPRK, near the border with China. The UN Security Council also strongly condemned the ballistic missile launches. In a press statement, the Council expressed utmost concern at DPRK’s highly destabilizing behaviour and “flagrant and provocative defiance” of the body by conducting the missile launches in violation of the country’s international obligations under relevant Council resolutions.