Poland condemns North Korea rocket launch

At an emergency meeting Sunday of the U.N. Security Council which includes the US, all 15 council members approved a statement condemning the launch and pledging to “expeditiously” adopt a new resolution with “significant” new sanctions. At the same time, China summoned South Korea’s ambassador and protested against the decision to start talks on the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korea.

North Korea fired the rocket despite warnings from a number of countries who claimed the satellite launch was a front for a long-range missile test. North Korea maintains the launch is for scientific and “peaceful purposes”.

Reuters reported that South Korea and the U.S. said they would explore whether to deploy an advanced missile defense system in South Korea “at the earliest possible date”.

Cook declined to state when exactly the US and South Korea would move forward with the talks.

On Tuesday, Park told Obama that the worldwide community needs to take specific actions to get North Korea to recognize that its policy of developing its economy and nuclear arsenal in tandem will never succeed.

Referring to the North’s technological advancement, South Korea’s defense chief has said the North’s projectile has entered the Earth’s orbit.

“In conducting this provocation, North Korea has clearly demonstrated that it is intent on prioritising the development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes over improving the well-being of its own people”.

“It would be specifically put into place to deal with the threat posed by North Korea alone”.

The UN Security Council, at an extraordinary session, condemned the recent actions by North Korea and announced that existing sanctions against the regime in Pyongyang may be increased. “DPRK’s (North Korea) latest transgressions require our response to be even firmer”.

In response, Park expressed support for Japan’s move to strengthen unilateral sanctions against North Korea.

“China holds a consistent and clear stance on the anti-missile issue”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.