UNSC to hold consultations on N. Korea this week

The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) will convene consultations on North Korea this week, its website showed Thursday. The UNSC is scheduled to hold the "closed" consultations at 10 a.m. Thursday (New York time) on the issues of North Korea, non-proliferation and other matters, according to the website. South Korea, along with the United States and Japan, are said to have requested the consultations. It marks the first UNSC meeting dealing with North Korea since Seoul began a two-year term as a nonpermanent member this year. South Korea is expected to expand its foothold in the U.N. body to better address the North Korean issue and other security challenges during its term. During the meeting, UNSC members are likely to discuss North Korea's growing military cooperation with Russia and its latest provocations. On Sunday, the North fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead, its first missile launch since firing the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic m issile on Dec. 18. Source: Yonhap News Agency