North Korea launched a ballistic missile on July 4, 2017. The United States has classified the missile as an ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) and has called for more stringent sanctions against the Korean regime. A special session of the Security Council was convened to discuss this problem. The Russians in a letter to the security council claimed that they have monitored the flight path of the missile from their radar station in Irkutsk in Siberia. As per the evidence presented by them, the missile was not an ICBM but an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile.
They also presented a graph of the flight path of the North Korean missile. Al Jazeera reported this news.
Security Council meeting
Tempers flared in the Security Council meeting as the US permanent representative Nikki Haley not only condemned the launch but also said that the military option was on the table as well. The Americans have classified the missile as an ICBM but have not presented any data that they had monitored the path of the missile.
The American representative talked of war but the Russian and Chinese talked about a peaceful resolution of the conflict. They were not in favor any more sanctions on the North. They made a devious suggestion that called on the North to "freeze" its missile and nuclear program.
Simultaneously they called on the Americans to suspend their joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan. They do not favor any military action.Even during the G20 conference Vladimir Putin in his meeting with Moon, the South Korean President advised restraint.
Russian proposal
The Russian proposal envisages a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
They want the US and the North to have a"constructive discussion". On the face of it, the Russian plan looks very balanced but reading the fine print show that both nations are supporting the North. They expect a reciprocal response from America when both nations have not implemented the UN resolutions passed by the Security Council on North Korea.
As per reports Chinese trade with the North grew by 40% in the first quarter of this year. So much for the sanctions on North Korea. In addition, Russia stalled the fresh Security Council resolution on more stringent sanctions.
Last word
In case the North Korean launch is an IRBM then it is a mystery as to why the Americans have not published any data on the missile test. Kim Jong-un is basically a spoilt brat who is a bragging a lot and talking about the nuclear capability of the North when he is at least a decade away from posing a credible threat to the USA.
