US working with allies to pass new UNSC resolution on N. Korea: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States is working closely with its allies and partners to have the UN Security Council (UNSC) send a strong signal to North Korea over its recent missile provocations with a new UNSC resolution, a state department spokesperson said Thursday.

Ned Price also highlighted the importance of holding North Korea accountable for its missile launches, which the US has repeatedly condemned as serious violations of UNSC resolutions.

"This is something that we are discussing with our allies and partners around the world," the department spokesperson said of the UNSC resolution submitted by the US

"That includes in New York, where our ambassador there, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and her team have been engaged on the challenge that is posed by North Korea's ballistic missile and its nuclear weapons programs," he added.

The US ambassador to the UN said earlier this week that the US plans to put the North Korea resolution to a vote at the UN Security Council during its monthlong presidency of the 15-member council in May.

The US-drafted resolution came after North Korea staged more than a dozen rounds of missile launches this year, also firing its first intercontinental ballistic missile in more than four years in March.

Pyongyang again launched another ballistic missile this week, marking its 14th known show of force this year.

"It is a challenge. It is a threat to international peace and security that the UN Security Council and its members have recognized in the past," Price said of the missile launches, while referring to the existing UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea.

"The UN Security Council and its members, including all five permanent members in the past have signed on to a string of UN Security Council resolutions," he added.

The US earlier sought to pass new resolutions on North Korea, but they have all been blocked by either China or Russia, both veto-power wielding permanent members of the UNSC and close allies of North Korea.

Price underscored the importance of sending a clear message to North Korea.

"We do think it's vital that the international community, our allies, as well as partners around the world, send a very clear signal to the DPRK that these types of provocations won't be tolerated, they won't improve its strategic positioning and the world will respond accordingly," said he.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Price also reiterated US commitment to engaging in dialogue with North Korea.

"It is our goal, as it is the goal of other allies and partners in the region and around the world, to see the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"We have made very clear to the DPRK. We've made very clear publicly to all of you that we are prepared to engage in that dialogue towards the end of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he added. (Yonhap)