Japan occupies the rotating monthly chair of the council for January, at a time when the 15-member council has failed to take effective steps against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches with permanent members Russia and China, a key benefactor of the North, exercising their veto power.The five nations joined Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates, replacing India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.In a speech at the General Assembly in New York in September, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan, as a Security Council member, intends to "take action to strengthen the rule of law in the international community" by listening "not only to the big voices but also being attentive to the small voices."Takahiro Shinyo, an international politics professor at Kwansei Gakuin University, told Kyodo News that Japan's ability to help stop "high-handedness" by Russia and China will be "put to the test" after becoming a nonpermanent council member.Shinyo, who once served as a member of Japan's permanent mission to the United Nations and ambassador to Germany, also said Tokyo could advance discussions on Pyongyang's security threats by calling emergency meetings."