U.N. Security Council Fails to Show Unified Response to N. Korea

New York, Nov. 21 (Jiji Press)--The U.N. Security Council on Monday failed to present a unified response to North Korea's latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as China and Russia again refused to condemn Pyongyang's action.

The ICBM fired by North Korea on Friday fell inside Japan's exclusive economic zone in waters some 200 kilometers west of the island of Oshima-Oshima in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido.

Many members of the Security Council condemned North Korea's ICBM launch at the 10th meeting that the U.N. body held this year to discuss a response to Pyongyang's missile firings.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the meeting that China and Russia "allowed the regime to launch this latest reckless missile test, which endangered the lives of Japanese civilians and needlessly raises tensions in the region."

"These two members' blatant obstructionism put the Northeast Asian region and the entire world at risk," she said of Beijing and Moscow.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]