The UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) launch during an open session to discuss the matter on Monday.

In the session at the UN headquarters in New York, South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the North's recent series of ballistic missile launches in the strongest terms, calling for an official response by the Security Council.

However, China and Russia voiced opposition to any further action by the Council, saying that the North's missile launches were a reasonable response to combined military drills between South Korea and the U.S.

Criticizing the Council's lack of action, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield proposed the adoption of a formal presidential statement, one step below a resolution, to condemn the North's action.

The session was held soon after the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, and two days after firing what it claimed was an ICBM.