US accuses China of trying to ‘protect’ North Korea at UN conference

The United States condemned Member States. UN Security Council what is considered an attempt to protect north korea from public review.

“Some members of the Council are willing to hold the administration accountable,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield said at a board meeting on Friday.

Earlier, China moved to block live online broadcasts of informal Security Council meetings, which are expected to discuss North Korea’s alleged human rights violations.

Each of the 15 members of the Security Council must agree before informal discussions are broadcast live.But China — North Korea’s most important ally In this area, members of the public were able to attend meetings in person, but made rare objections.

It has sparked condemnation from the US delegation to the United Nations, which has previously clashed with the US. China and Russiaanother Security Council member, on the debate on human rights.

The U.S. delegation tweeted that it “continues to oppose North Korea’s human rights abuses and threats to international peace.” “They may be able to silence the voices of the North Korean people, but they cannot silence ours.”

Russia and China oppose discussing human rights in the Security Council, pointing to the existence of a separate UN Council devoted to the issue.

Xing Jisheng, a diplomat who heads China’s delegation to the United Nations, unequivocally condemned Friday’s meeting as “not constructive” given rising tensions in the Pacific region.

North Korea on Friday launching an intercontinental ballistic missile The day before that was meant to “terrorize the enemies” of the Kim Jong Un-led government.

The isolated communist state launched four missiles in about a week, citing “blatant hostility” from the United States and its regional allies.

North Korea carried out launch South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida together in Tokyo To idea between their two countries.The US and her allies are also staging military exercises regional.

“It’s an irresponsible move that could escalate conflicts rather than ease tensions,” Xing said.

He also dismissed a proposal to broadcast the proceedings on the UN’s WebTV platform as “a waste of UN resources.”

Russian diplomat Stepan Kuzmenkov echoed these criticisms in a statement to the Security Council, accusing the United States of using human rights as a political tool. had been suspended by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Kuzmenkov said, “The West’s pretense and hypocritical concerns about human rights in North Korea are not deceiving anyone.” “We are all well aware that the United States is using human rights to try to solve the government’s inconveniences.”

The US co-hosted an informal meeting on Friday with Albania. During the proceedings, Thomas-Greenfield called on the Security Council to fulfill its “obligation to address North Korea’s gross human rights abuses”, which he said “endangers the peace and security of our collective”. rice field.

The country has been under UN sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs since 2006.

“North Korea chose ammunition over nutrition and missiles over people,” Thomas Greenfield later tweeted. “In doing so, it threatened the global non-proliferation regime.”

The US ambassador also shared with the board the story of a North Korean who fled the country for fear of persecution.

One woman said she was forced to watch her mother be shot and executed in front of her husband and four-year-old child. Another had been caught twice while trying to escape.

“What was extraordinary was that she decided to run away for the third time to save her sons,” said Thomas Greenfield. “But she carried poison, because if she failed she would rather die than be imprisoned and tortured again.”

North Korea, which has long denied human rights abuses against its own people, did not attend Friday’s meeting. However, Thomas-Greenfield insisted on the importance of sharing exile stories before the Council.

“For every horror story we hear, there are countless stories that we never hear and never see the light of day. Of course, this is by design,” she said. .

“The Pyongyang regime is doing everything in its power to hide its atrocities from the outside world. But time and time again, they have failed.”

The Security Council is set to discuss the North Korean missile launch at a formal meeting on Monday.