Thomas-Greenfield, who chairs the council during this month’s US presidency, stood alongside the ambassadors of Albania, Japan and South Korea when they made the announcement.
Russia and China, which have close ties to North Korea, have blocked any Security Council action since they vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new restrictions on its intercontinental ballistic missile launches. So the council is not expected to take any action in next week’s meeting.
China and Russia may oppose holding an open meeting, which requires the support of at least nine of the council’s 15 members. A senior US official at the UN mission, who was not authorized to speak publicly, indicated that the US had sufficient Council support for the meeting.