UN condemns N. Korea rocket launch, vows sanctions soon
World
UN condemns N. Korea rocket launch, vows sanctions soon
The United Nations Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned North Korea’s latest rocket launch and promised to take punitive steps, while Washington vowed to ensure the 15-nation body imposed “serious consequences” on Pyongyang as soon as possible. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006. It has conducted three more atomic tests since then, including the one last month, along with numerous ballistic missile launches.
What is at stake after this inadmissible provocation is the future of the international non-proliferation regime.
France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre
A draft sanctions resolution prepared by Japan, South Korea and the U.S. has been in negotiations for weeks, but Beijing has been reluctant to back measures that would take aim at North Korea’s already weak economy. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one senior Western diplomat said Americans had been pushing for tough new measures that went beyond targeting North Korea’s atomic weapons and missile programs, while China wanted any future steps to focus on the question of nonproliferation. While infuriated by North Korea’s refusal to curb its nuclear ambitions, China’s overriding concern is avoiding a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang and the possibility of a US-allied unified Korea on its border.
(There should be) a new resolution that will do the work of reducing tensions, of working toward denuclearization, of maintaining peace and stability, and of encouraging a negotiated solution.
Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi
