Pakistan calls for dialogue amid rising tensions after N Korea’s latest missile launch

United Nations: Following North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch on Monday, Pakistan expressed concern and called for diplomatic engagement and dialogue to resolve issues facing the Korean Peninsula on Thursday.  North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea at the same time that United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was holding a meeting in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, including a meeting with acting President Choi Sang-mok.  Pakistan’s ambassador and representative to the UN, Munir Akram, told the UN Security Council that the country “strongly supports calls for the resumption of talks between the relevant parties”, two days after a ballistic missile was fired from what Pyongyang described as a new type. . A hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) loaded with a hypersonic glide vehicle. Akram also described the development as detrimental to regional and international peace and security. Pakistan, he said, supports the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the goals of global non-proliferation and disarmament. “Provocations such as missile tests on the one hand – and coercive actions and threats on the other – must be stopped,” the Pakistani envoy said.  “Pakistan opposes any further testing of nuclear weapons in Korea or elsewhere,” he added.  “We hope the Security Council will find ways to revive dialogue and play its proper role in reducing tensions and threats to peace and security in the region.” South Korea’s military uncovered “one projectile believed to be a medium-range ballistic missile,” Al Jazeera reported.  After the launch, a senior UN official opened the debate by warning that North Korea is actively working to acquire new military capabilities that undermine the global non-proliferation architecture. “While he said the launch had no negative impact on the security of neighboring countries, [Pyongyang] unfortunately did not issue any statement on airspace or maritime security,” said the assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. and Peacebuilding Department. Khaled Khiari Affairs and Peacekeeping Operation.  According to the country’s official statement, the system “can deal a serious military blow to an adversary by effectively breaching any of its dense defense barriers,” he said. North Korean Ambassador Song Kim emphasized that the test launch of a new type of medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile is part of a plan to develop national defense capabilities to increase the sustainability of the strategic deterrent.  If there is a “physical conflict” on the peninsula due to the “reckless mania induced by the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea)”, the Council should be held responsible for criminalizing the just exercise of his country’s sovereign right. Ambassador Song claimed that he was applying a double standard.