The UN Security Council has vowed to impose “significant” punitive measures on North Korea. This follows the country’s announcement that it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
Members of the Security Council,which includes China, Russia and the United States, condemned the test as a “clear violation of (past) resolutions … and of the nonproliferation regime.”
According to Elbio Rosselli, president of the Council, the UN is determined to create a resolution that acts on previous promises to further curb the reclusive state’s ability to further its nuclear weapons program.
The 15-member UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting Wednesday, January 6, to hinder North Korea from getting more nuclear weapons and punishing it for the test earlier that day.
Past UN measures included arms, nonproliferation and luxury good embargoes, a freeze on overseas financial assets and a travel ban. None of them have so far stopped North Korea from continuing its nuclear program.
North Korea bragged Wednesday about the “spectacular success” of its first hydrogen bomb test, a defiant act that leader Kim Jong Un, in a statement read on state television, said would “make the world … look up to our strong nuclear country.”
By Dike Onwuamaeze