UN Security Council condemns N. Korea missile test
Published 12 April, 2009, 01:55
At the United Nations, the five permanent Security Council members have issued a statement condemning North Korea's recent rocket launch.
Last Sunday, Pyonyang fired a long-range rocket, provoking international outrage.
It claims to have launched a communications satellite, but the West says the move was a cover for a missile test.
In response, there was a big step forward at the UN today. After six-party talks, which include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council including the US, Russia, France, China and Britain plus Japan, the group agreed on a draft presidential statement.
The document says North Korea's actions last week violate a UN resolution that forbids the state from conducting nuclear tests or ballistic launches.
The United States, China, Russia, Britain and France have also called for freezing the assets of companies involved in importing or exporting missiles and nuclear weapons from North Korea.
This statement is now circulating among members of the Security Council. In order to be adopted it must be approved by all 15 members of the Security Council.
Probably as soon as Monday the Security Council will reconvene in order to adopt this presidential statement and make it official.
Basically, this statement condemns the launch of a missile that North Korea carried out on April 5. Apart from that, the statement demands all similar activities be halted and asks that North Korea follows the existing resolution 1718 of the UN that was adopted in 2006.
The statement also calls on members of the Security Council to adjust the measures of the existing resolution.
It took the whole week for the six permanent members of the Security Council to prepare the text of the resolution. The reason for the delay was the division of opinions in the council. After North Korea carried out the launch, the Security Council held an emergency meeting last Sunday.
The US called for tough and strict new sanctions to be adopted against North Korea whereas China, supported by Russia, was calling for a more thought-out approach.
This new draft statement is seen as a sort of compromise between the members of the Security Council because it condemns the North Korean missile test but does not impose the strict new sanctions on the country that the US and Japan were calling for.
Some ambassadors came out to speak to the press today and they agreed that never before has such a strong message to North Korea been adopted. It makes the Security Council approach towards North Korea clear and official.
The draft statement does not specify what the launch was. North Korea claims it was a peaceful satellite launch while the US and Japan insist it was a military ballistic missile test.
However, this message is a result of unified efforts and now the question is whether it will be adopted as it is by all the members of the Security Council on Monday.
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