UN meets on NKorea as US confirms rocket was ICBM

Bloomberg

The United Nations Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting later Wednesday after the US confirmed North Korea’s rocket launch on July 4 was its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un bragged about sending more “gifts” to US President Donald Trump, South Korea and the US announced on Wednesday they had conducted a joint ballistic-missile drill in waters off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula.
With Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling North Korea’s actions a “new escalation of the threat” to the US and its allies, the UN is set to issue a condemnation of the missile test, which comes in defiance of international sanctions. Still, with China and South Korea also calling for caution, and urging fresh efforts to entice North Korea to talks, the prospects for strong action appear limited.
Kim’s progress towards acquiring missiles that can carry a nuclear warhead to the US mainland also show how efforts to rein him in—from international sanctions to U.S. and Chinese pressure —have not worked. Even so, Tillerson called for “global action” to stop a “global threat.”
“Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime,” he said in a statement.
“Denuclearization is the goal of the UN while nuclearization is the goal of the North Korea,” said Cui Liru, who was a China counselor at the UN. “The UN could issue more sanctions and even put more pressure on Pyongyang with military exercises, but Kim will not give up his goal until the major powers address his security concerns,” said Cui, a former president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

G-20 Summit
Labeling the rocket an ICBM reflects a US assessment that North Korea now may be capable of striking the US—possibly Hawaii or Alaska—though it’s believed to be some way from the capability to deliver a nuclear payload to the U.S. mainland. South Korea also said the missile was an ICBM, though it added it couldn’t confirm if it was successfully tested.The issue will dominate this week’s Group of 20 summit in Germany, where Trump is due to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Trump has already indicated in recent weeks he believes China is not doing enough to curtail its neighbor and ally.
“Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us—but we had to give it a try!” Trump said on Wednesday on Twitter. A day earlier on the social-media platform, he said, “Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”
“Ultimately, Trump’s policy of preventing a North Korean ICBM has failed, and the countries central to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue do not seem to agree on the best way forward,” said Andrea Berger, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. “In fact, they are arguably more divided than ever.”