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15-member body reaches compromise on N Korean rocket

NEW YORK — The United Nations Security Council, ending a week of diplomatic bargaining, agreed yesterday to condemn North Korea’s April 5 rocket test and enforce previously imposed sanctions against the government in Pyongyang.

The 15-nation panel unanimously adopted a statement that said the launch was in “contravention” of a 2006 resolution barring North Korea’s development of missile technology, and demanded that no further launches be conducted.

The accord on a council “presidential statement”, which lacks the legally binding weight of a UN resolution, stemmed from a compromise brokered by the United States and China.

The US initially sought a resolution and stronger sanctions on North Korea, while China was reluctant to condemn the launch or increase pressure on the North Korean regime of Mr Kim Jong Il.

“It is a good face-saving measure for both sides but a hollow threat from the North Korean perspective,” said Mr Abraham Kim of the Eurasia Group, a political-risk analysis firm. “The key is implementation. China has signed on to statements in the past but has not implemented them and has sent signals recently that they are still protecting North Korea.”

“The US will consider the council statement legally binding,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington. He dismissed concern that it would not be as strong as a resolution. “We want to do everything we can in getting a message to the North Koreans that this type of activity cannot happen again,” he said.

North Korea claims the rocket lifted a satellite into orbit. The US says the first stage of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan and that the remaining stages, along with the payload, landed in Pacific Ocean.

The council statement said it “agrees to adjust the measures imposed” by the resolution adopted on Oct 14, 2006, following North Korea’s detonation of a nuclear device. That resolution, which has never been implemented, froze the assets and banned the travel of “persons or entities” involved in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

The council’s sanctions committee created by the 2006 resolution has been instructed to report by April 24 on how the sanctions are to be enforced. The council will “complete action” to do so by April 30 in the event there is no agreement within the committee, according to the statement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon welcomed the “strong and clear signal” the council sent to North Korea and was “hopeful” it would help resolve the dispute, according to a statement released by his spokesman.
- Bloomberg

From TODAY, News - Tuesday, 14-April-2009