UN weighs sanctions against N. Korea

United Nations - The world lined up against North Korea on Monday for staging a nuclear test denounced even by key allies. President Bush called it "a threat to international peace and security," and the U.N. Security Council weighed severe sanctions to punish the impoverished communist nation.

There was no talk of military action. But the Security Council quickly condemned North Korea's decision to flout a U.N. appeal to cancel the test after the reclusive regime announced it had set off an underground atomic explosion.

Russia was the only country to say it had "no doubts" over the North Korean claim. The U.S. and other experts said the explosion was smaller than expected and they had yet to confirm it was nuclear.

But the reaction of world governments reflected little doubt that they were treating the announcement as fact.

The 15-nation council urged Pyongyang to return to stalled talks, refrain from further tests and keep its pledge to scrap its clandestine weapons program.

Bush said the North Korean action "constitutes a threat to international peace and security" and requires "an immediate response" from the Security Council, though he stressed the U.S. remained committed to diplomacy.

The United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution late Monday that would condemn North Korea's nuclear test and impose tough sanctions on the reclusive communist nation for Pyongyang's "flagrant disregard" of the Security Council's appeal not to detonate a device.

The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, incorporates proposals circulated by the U.S. earlier in the day to prohibit all trade in military and luxury goods and crack down on illegal financial dealings.

It adds new calls from Japan to ban all countries from allowing any North Korean ships in their ports or any North Korean aircraft from taking off or landing in their territory if they carried arms, nuclear or ballistic missile-related material or luxury goods.

In addition, the Japanese proposals would impose travel restrictions on high-ranking North Korean officials, create a Security Council committee to monitor implementation of the sanctions, and ask the secretary-general "to actively engage in this matter."

The U.S. draft also seeks to prevent any North Korean financial transactions resulting from illicit counterfeiting, money-laundering and narcotics, and "any abuses of the international financial system" that could contribute to the transfer or development of banned weapons.

Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, the current council president, said earlier that all council members "emphasized that the response of the council should be strong, swift and very, very clear in its message and its action."

But just how long it will take members to agree on a resolution remains to be seen.

Council experts started discussing the proposals in meetings Monday afternoon and were expected to meet again Tuesday morning.

But it was unclear whether China and Russia — the North's closest allies — would support some of the tough measures, which also include international inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea to limit the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and to ban any material that could be used in the production of weapons of mass destruction.

Before the experts meeting, the ambassadors from the five veto-wielding council nations — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — met with Oshima.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters afterward that everybody agreed within 30 minutes that the council should condemn the action and respond quickly, saying "that's remarkable" to have such a unanimous decision.

But he wouldn't speculate when the council might act, noting that Japan and others already had other suggestions for the text.

"The fact is that in our half-hour, full council meeting this morning, there was no one who even came close to defending this test by North Korea," Bolton said.

The United States, France, Britain and Japan want the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with threats to international peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. It allows the council to authorize measures ranging from breaking diplomatic ties and imposing economic and military sanctions to taking military action to restore peace.

With U.S. forces strapped by the twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration repeatedly has said it has no plans to invade North Korea and discussion of military action was absent on Monday.

Neither Russia nor China would say whether they support a resolution that could pave the way for sanctions.

"I think we have to react firmly," China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said. "But also I believe that on the other hand the door to solve this issue from a diplomatic point of view is still open."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the North Koreans "will be facing a very serious attitude on the part of the Security Council and the entire international community," but he said the council needs to discuss whether that will include sanctions.

South Korea's nuclear envoy said Tuesday after returning from Beijing that China appeared to have dropped opposition to tough U.N. sanctions.

"China seems to have different position than it had before on a Chapter 7 resolution," Chun Young-woo told The Associated Press

"I think (China) will employ all available means to prevent North Korea from further aggravating the situation and to bring them back into diplomatic efforts," Chun said after returning from a two-day trip and meetings with Chinese officials.

Still, he said Beijing reiterated its commitment to a peaceful diplomatic solution to the issue.

The reported test came one day after the ninth anniversary of reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's accession to power and a day before the 61st anniversary of the ruling North Korean Workers' Party.

There were no signs of heightened alert by security forces in Pyongyang. People also laid flowers by a statue of Kim Il Sung, the current leader's late father.

The test also coincided with the Security Council vote Monday to nominate South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to succeed Kofi Annan as the next U.N. secretary-general. The 192-nation General Assembly is expected to approve the recommendation later this month.

Ban said one of his priorities, if approved, would be to work to resolve the North Korean crisis.

North Korea remained defiant. Pak Gil Yon, the North's U.N. ambassador, said the Security Council should congratulate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, known as the DPRK, instead of passing "useless" resolutions or statements.

"The nuclear test in the DPRK will greatly contribute in increasing the world deterrence of the DPRK" and will contribute "to the maintenance and guarantee of peace and security in the peninsula and the region," he said.

The United States and its allies, and many of North Korea's neighbors, took the exact opposite view.

"This shows why we need actions and not just words about North Korea," Bolton told The Associated Press.

Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to produce a bomb, the test would be the first proof that it had done so.

If the test is confirmed, North Korea would join the current members of the nuclear club — the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and China. Israel is widely believed to have the bomb but has not publicly declared.

Officials worried that a nuclear armed North would dramatically alter the strategic balance of power in the Pacific, and would undermine already fraying global anti-proliferation efforts.

While voicing concerns, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after meeting with the South Korean leader in Seoul, called for a "calm, yet stern response." The situation marked his first major foreign policy test since his recent election.

Abe said Tuesday that Japan will not change its policy of not possessing nuclear weapons, despite the alleged North Korean test.

"There will no change of our non-nuclear arms principles," Abe told a parliamentary session.

South Korea said it had put its military on high alert, but it had noticed no unusual activity among North Korea's troops.

Bolton told the Security Council that Washington would consider an attack on Japan or South Korea an attack on the United States, according to U.N. diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because the remarks were made at a closed council meeting.

The United States has defense agreements with the two Asian allies and thousands of U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea and Japan.

China said the North "defied the universal opposition of international society and flagrantly conducted the nuclear test" and urged the North to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Cabinet that Moscow "certainly condemns the test conducted by North Korea."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the test was a "completely irresponsible act."

Only Iran, which also faces Security Council action over its disputed nuclear program, expressed understanding for North Korea's action.

Iranian state radio blamed the North's reported nuclear test on U.S. pressure, saying the test "was a reaction to America's threats and humiliation."

The North has refused for over a year to attend six-party international talks aimed at persuading it to disarm, demanding instead that the U.S. drop financial sanctions it has imposed to punish Pyongyang alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. It pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after U.S. officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, allegedly violating an earlier nuclear pact between Washington and Pyongyang.

Impoverished and isolated, North Korea has built up its military and nuclear programs while relying on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people since its state-run farming system collapsed in the 1990s following decades of mismanagement and the loss of Soviet subsidies.

South Korea said the nuclear test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. Monday (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the test was successful, with no leak of radiation, and this was "a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation."

South Korean officials said Tuesday they believe that North Korea tested a nuclear weapon as it claimed, but that it would take about two weeks to determine if the test was successful.

The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for a half-dozen bombs. It insists its nuclear program is necessary to deter a U.S. invasion.

The North has active missile programs, but it isn't believed to have an atomic bomb design small and light enough to be mounted on a long-range rocket that could strike targets as distant as the United States.

Reports about the size of the explosion were conflicting, ranging from South Korea's geological institute estimating it was the equivalent of 550 tons of TNT to Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov saying it was the equivalent of 5,000 to 15,000 tons of TNT.

A U.S. government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the situation, said the seismic event could have been a nuclear explosion, but its small size was making it difficult for authorities to pin down. -- The Associated Press

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website with