The United Nations Security Council condemned the launch by North Korea of a ballistic missile, which flew over Japan. At the end of an emergency meeting, the 15 members of the UN executive approved a declaration in which the test is defined as an "outrageous" threat and asks Pyongyang not to launch any more missiles and to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs. However, the text does not threaten new sanctions and China, in expressing its position, stated that "any measure against North Korea should fall within the framework of the UN Security Council", specifying however that unilateral sanctions are not in agreement with international law. According to diplomatic sources, China and Russia (which in the Council have the right of veto) believe only the tests of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon, reasons that can trigger sanctions. From Pyongyang, meanwhile, the regime raises the tone again: "It is the first step of the military operation in the Pacific and a significant prelude" to hit the island of Guam, as known in US territory. North Korea this month threatened to fire four missiles at Guam after US President Donald Trump claimed Pyongyang would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States. The missile tested with the launch on Japan is a Hwasong-12, the same that Kim Jong-Un threatened to use against Guam, but the path - in fact - this time had a different direction, first towards the Japanese island of Hokkaido and then into the sea. "The world has received the latest message from North Korea loud and clear: it has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations and for the minimum acceptable standards of acceptable international behavior," Trump commented yesterday after. the launch. And then he added that "all options are on the table". The official North Korean version to motivate the launch, according to the official news agency KCNA, is that the intermediate-range ballistic missile (Irbm) is a response to the joint military exercises of the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang considers preparations for an invasion.
