NEW YORK: The UN Security Council at an emergency meeting held behind closed doors Wednesday failed to adopt a joint statement against North Korea after the country launched a ballistic missile the previous day.

The meeting, convened at the request of the United States and other countries in response to the missile firing, was the third of its kind since Pyongyang started to ramp up missile activities last month. The top UN body also could not adopt any statement in the past two meetings.

According to sources linked to the Security Council, member nations remained divided at the latest meeting, with the United States, Britain and France criticizing North Korea and China demanding the United States ease sanctions against the reclusive state.

Holding a press conference ahead of the emergency gathering, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, stressed that North Korea test-fired what it claims to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile Tuesday in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.

She also said it is time for North Korea to engage in sustained and substantive dialogue toward the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told a press conference in Tokyo Thursday, “Japan will continue to cooperate with members of the international community, including the United States, in demanding North Korea comply with all of its obligations under Security Council resolutions.”

JIJI Press