UN to meet on Koreas amid soaring tensions

UN: The UN Security Council called a meeting yesterday on escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and Russia expressed anger that it was not organized earlier.

Russia has urged South Korea and the United States to call off a live-fire drill on the Korean frontier that the North has warned could lead to “disaster” between the two sides.

After summoning the South Korean and US ambassadors to Moscow Friday, Russia had wanted the UN Security Council to meet in “emergency” session Saturday, said its UN envoy Vitaly Churkin.

The United States is the President of the Security Council for December and Churkin said the US mission had “declined to convene such a meeting today. We regret that. We believe that such a step by the President is a departure from the practice existing in the council.”

“We assume that nothing will happen in the interim that will bring about a further aggravation on the Korean peninsula,” Churkin told a press conference. The United States rejected criticism of the arrangements of the meeting however.

It said the request was received Saturday, and after consulting with Russia and the other members of the 15-nation council the Sunday morning time was set.

“This meets other Security Council members’ requests to have time to consult with their capitals and meets the Russian request for a timely meeting,” said US mission spokesman Mark Kornblau.

The United States and Russia are two of the five heavyweight permanent powers on the council which can veto any resolution.

The UN Security Council has not yet made any statement or taken any action over North Korea’s artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong island last month in which two South Korean civilians and two South Korean marines were killed.

Sunday, AFP