Portraits of N. Korea’s previous communist leaders.

The UN Security Council is condemning North Korea’s “irresponsible and provocative” attempts to evade United Nations sanctions.

Council members emphasized “the importance of full compliance” with the six rounds of increasingly tougher sanctions in a statement after closed-door discussions Monday.

Members also emphasized their intention to work jointly to reduce tensions and achieve denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft expressed hope that if Malaysia has evidence that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill the North Korean leader’s half-brother Kim Jong Nam it will send it to the chemical weapons watchdog and the Security Council so “we can take it forward.”

Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the current council president, said the Feb. 13 airport attack on Kim Jong Un’s brother was not discussed.

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