US accuses Russia and China of ‘shamelessly’ shielding North Korea

The United States on Monday called out Russia and China at the United Nations Security Council for “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate UN sanctions as Pyongyang pledged to accelerate building up its “nuclear force”.

“Shielded from closer scrutiny of its sanctions-violating activities by Moscow and Beijing, Pyongyang, unsurprisingly, has been emboldened to continue advancing its unlawful ballistic missile, nuclear and WMD programmes,” he said, using the acronym for weapons of mass destruction.

North Korea’s UN ambassador Kim Song told the Security Council that Pyongyang would accelerate the build-up of its nuclear force to “counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapons states”.

North Korea has been under UN Security Council sanctions since 2006, and the measures have been steadily strengthened over the years with the aim of halting Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.