North Korea assumes leadership of top disarmament groupIt comes as the pariah state was earlier this year accused of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile, which are banned by the UN Security Council.
However it assumed the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament as the position rotates between members.
The move sparked immediate criticism of the forum's effectiveness.
A number of non-government organisations had urged countries to walk out of the room - a common form of diplomatic protest. While member states did not do this at Thursday's session, some nations sent only lower-level representatives...........
....................The Conference on Disarmament - held three times at year at the UN headquarters in Geneva- is the world's only permanent, multilateral body negotiating arms and nuclear accords.
Its overarching aim is to end the nuclear arms race and prevent nuclear war. However it's failed to produce any deals of note since 1996.
North Korea will chair the forum for at least the next three weeks.
The opening session on Thursday saw Western states - many of whom wield sanctions against Pyongyang- release a joint statement condemning North Korea's aggression this year.
"We remain gravely concerned about the DPRK's reckless actions which continue to seriously undermine the very value of the Conference on Disarmament", said Australia's ambassador, on behalf of a coalition of countries. .....
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61679432
