In a first-of-its-kind General Assembly meeting Wednesday, China and Russia justified their vetoes of a strongly backed US resolution that would have slapped heavy new penalties on North Korea.

The debate was held under new rules that require the General Assembly to investigate any veto used in the Security Council by one of the Security Council's five permanent members.

China and Russia maintained their opposition to additional penalties, criticizing the US for growing tensions on the Korean peninsula and emphasizing that discussion between North Korea and the Biden administration is now required. 

Nearly 70 countries registered to speak at the open meeting, which General Assembly President Abdalla Shahid praised for making the UN more efficient and accountable.“It is with good reason that it has been coined as `revolutionary’ by several world leaders I have recently met,” he said.

The 13-2 Security Council vote on May 26 marked the first serious division among its five veto-wielding permanent members — China, Russia, United States, Britain, and France — on a North Korea sanctions resolution.

North Korea missile launch

North Korea appeared to set a single-day record for ballistic launches, firing eight short-range missiles. It was the country's 18th set of missile testing in 2022, which included its first intercontinental ballistic missile launches in nearly five years.

The United States' Deputy Ambassador, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, claimed at the assembly that North Korea is "finalizing preparations for a potential seventh nuclear test."

He referred to the activities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK, as "unprovoked".

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De Laurentis emphasized that US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken "have frequently and openly stated that we seek conversation with Pyongyang, without preconditions," and that message has been communicated through private channels, including China.

“The United States is more than prepared to discuss easing sanctions to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.

China criticizes the US

The permanent member or members casting a veto are given precedence on the speaker's list under the General Assembly resolution that mandated Wednesday's meeting.

China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun spoke first, criticizing the US for ignoring constructive DPRK moves and resorting to its "old path" of "chanting meaningless slogans for dialogue and intensifying sanctions against the DPRK."

This has intensified “the DPRK distrust of the US” and brought talks “to a complete deadlock,” he said.

Read next: China calls on US to ease DPRK sanctions to evade tensions

Zhang blamed today's tensions on the peninsula on "the flip-flop of US policy," the failure to execute the findings of the DPRK-US talks during the Trump administration, and the North's "legitimate fears".

“Where the situation goes from here will depend to a large extent on the actions of the US,” he said, “and the key lies in whether the US can face up to the crux of the problem, demonstrate a reasonable attitude, and take meaningful concrete actions.”

Sanctions against DPRK, a "dead end" - Russia

Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said new sanctions against the DPRK “would be a dead end,” stressing that current UN sanctions have failed to guarantee security in the region “nor moved us any further toward settling the nuclear missile non-proliferation issues.”

“Anyone who is seriously addressing the North Korean problem has long understood that it’s futile to expect Pyongyang to unconditionally disarm under the threat of a spiral of sanctions,” she said.

Read next: China, Russia veto new UN sanctions on N. Korea

“The creation of new military blocs in the regions such as the formation of the US-Great Britain and Australia casts serious doubt on the good intentions of these countries,” including in Pyongyang, she added.

US sanctions are "illegal" - DPRK

North Korea's UN Ambassador, Kim Song, slammed all UN sanctions and the proposed US resolution as "illegal", saying they violate the UN Charter and his country's right to self-defense in the event of a security crisis on the Korean peninsula or elsewhere in the region.

Modernizing the DPRK’s armaments is essential, he said, to safeguard North Korea’s interests “from the direct threat of the United States,” which he insisted has made no move “to abandon its hostile policy.”