U.S. President Joe Biden ended an Asia trip Tuesday that including stops in South Korea and Japan where he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend both allies in the face of the North’s nuclear threat.
The United States on Wednesday called for a vote “in the coming days” on a U.N. resolution that would impose tougher sanctions on North Korea for its recent launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons, AP reports.
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations has been working on a draft Security Council resolution for several months and a senior U.S. administration official said Wednesday it would be put in a final form that can be voted on.
But the measure faces opposition from North Korea’s neighbors China and Russia, which both said at a council meeting on May 11 that they wanted to see new talks and not more punishment for the North.
The announcement of an upcoming vote and the U.S. release of the 14-page draft resolution came hours after South Korea reported that North Korea test-launched a suspected ICBM and two shorter-range missiles.
© Copyright LaPresse