New UNSC Sanctions Against North Korea Over Rocket Launch to Be ‘Futile’

The US Strategic Command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea’s military said the rocket had put an object into orbit.

The launch was also condemned by the USA administration, with National Security Advisor Susan Rice stressing that it violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Japan’s Kyodo News reported Sunday that South Korea and Japan seem to hold the view that conditions are ripe for deepening military cooperation, saying that Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Seoul is mulling reviewing whether to clinch a Seoul-Tokyo pact on sharing military intelligence.

North Korea has launched has launched a rocket into space, leading to global condemnation and fears the regime is testing technology for a long-range missile.

“The existing sanctions have not stopped North Korea from developing nuclear weapons”, he said. While the United Nations announced that more sanctions would be imposed against Pyongyang over the launch, a North Korean patrol boat crossed the maritime border between the two countries Monday.

An emergency UN Security Council meeting was due to take place on Sunday in NY to discuss whether an worldwide response is required.

Analysts have disputed whether the action did in fact involve a hydrogen bomb, but diplomats said that incident, together with the recent rocket launch, are advancing North Korea’s nuclear program.

The US and regional allies South Korea and Japan tracked the rocket – but stopped short of blasting it out of the sky as they had threatened to do.

“When pursuing its own security, one country should not impair others’ security interests”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

The statement was backed by China, Pyongyang’s ally, and the 14 other Security Council members.

North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy meant to collapse its government.

“We would see the deployment as soon as possible”, said the spokesman, Peter Cook, in a press conference.

South Korean President Park Geun Hye has called for heightened vigilance against any further provocation following the launch and North Korea’s fourth nuclear test last month.