UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security
Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning "in the strongest
terms" a recent nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) and imposing new sanctions.
The UN Security Council holds a
conference at the UN headquarters to vote on the draft resolution on the
nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK), in New York, June 12, 2009. The UN Security Council on Friday
unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the recent nuclear test
conducted by the DPRK and imposing new sanctions. (Xinhua/Shen
Hong) Photo
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Resolution 1874 demanded that the DPRK "not conduct
any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology" and
urged that the isolated country come back to the six-party talks without
preconditions.
China supports "an appropriate and balanced reaction"
from the UN Security Council to the DPRK nuclear test, Zhang Yesui, Chinese
permanent representative to the United Nations, said when addressing a Security
Council meeting after the 15-nation UN body unanimously adopted the resolution.
"The resolution not only demonstrates the firm
opposition of the international community to the DPRK nuclear test, but also
sends a positive message to the DPRK," Zhang said. "It shows the stance and
determination of the Security Council to resolve the DPRK nuclear issue
peacefully through dialogue and negotiations. In this context, the Chinese
delegation voted in favor of the resolution."
Immediately after the nuclear test by the DPRK on May
25, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing its firm
opposition to the nuclear test, Zhang said.
"We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to
denuclearization, stop relevant moves that may further worsen the situation and
return to the six-party talks," he said.
The new resolution came after the DPRK announced a
successful nuclear test on May 25, the second since 2006. The six-party talks
involving the DPRK, South Korea, the United States, Russia, China and Japan have
been stalled since last December.
Also on Friday, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Rosemary
DiCarlo told the Security Council that "the message of this resolution is clear:
North Korea's behavior is unacceptable to the international community, and the
international community is determined to respond."
"North Korea should return without conditions to a
process of peaceful dialogue," DiCarlo said.
The Security Council urged, in the resolution, states
and international financial institutions to disrupt the flow of funds that could
support the DPRK's missile, nuclear or proliferation activities.
In particular, the resolution created a new framework
for states to cooperate in the inspection of ships and aircraft suspected to be
carrying weapons of mass destruction or other banned goods but only with the
consent of the country under which the vessel or aircraft is registered.
However, there's a snag: If a vessel belonging to the
DPRK refuses inspection, the international community will have a new challenge
on its hands, Japanese UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu told reporters after the
Council session adjourned.
"The issue is if the DPRK refuses: What happens?," he
asked. "The Council may have to deal with this scenario. We can't really predict
what the Council is going to do."
While the resolution imposes a total embargo on arms
exports from the DPRK and significantly expands the ban on arms imports, British
UN Deputy Ambassador Philip John Parham told reporters that the United Kingdom
would have gone further.
"We would have preferred to see an even broaderban
but this is what was decided upon by the Council," Parham said.
However, Parham emphasized that the sanctions in
place are carefully targeted and would not affect humanitarian objectives.
"We are not talking about general economic
sanctions," he said. "These measures should not adversely affect the economic
situation of the people of North Korea, which, as we already know, is dire."
The resolution also underlines that "measures imposed
by this resolution are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences
for the civilian population of the DPRK."
Meanwhile, Libyan UN Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi
echoed that note, saying his delegation voted for the resolution because the
consequences of sanctions will not harm the people.
However, he stressed that by not offering a reward
when Lybia renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003, it "wasted a precious
opportunity" that would have encouraged other states to follow suit.
French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert warned that the
DPRK is on "a dangerous path" and urged the country to make "a strategic choice
to reject once and for all its nuclear program and to reestablish normal
relations with its neighbours."
"Its population will be the first to benefit from
this and it will be a first step towards complete denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula which France, like the European Union so much wishes to see," he
added.
In 2003, the DPRK announced that it was withdrawing
from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which would leave it free from
inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The DPRK's repeated nuclear tests are "a serious
blow" to international efforts to strengthen the NPT, Russian Ambassador Vitaly
Churkin told the Security Council.
Churkin added that it was the Russian delegation
which "actively contributed" to drafting a resolution that appealed to a
political solution and excluded military force in dealing with the DPRK.
Croatian Ambassador Neven Jurica called upon the DPRK
to return to six-party talks and advised that the country take heed of the
Council's resolution, which he hoped would be used as a "tool to encourage" DPRK
leaders to take "the path of negotiations over confrontation."
Ugandan Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda said the Council
had his country's vote because it is "important to achieve non proliferation"
and because "we are convinced that together we should work towards the total
elimination of all nuclear weapons in order to create a more secure world."
On that note, Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller
reminded the Council that actions by the DPRK do not happen in a vacuum. "They
take place in a context of constant threat to the international community
derived from the existence of nuclear weapons and the risk of their
proliferation."
"The possibility that nuclear weapons proliferate
will remain as long as they are not completely eliminated. What does not exist
cannot proliferate," Heller said.
Austrian Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting said that as
co-chairs of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Austria and Costa Rica
"believe that the recent events highlight the necessity and urgency of a rapid
entry into force" of the CTBT.
Mayr-Harting said: "The unanimous adoption of the
resolution is a clear, fully appropriate and unequivocal response by this
Council and the international community to the DPRK's nuclear tests and the
threat it poses to international peace and security."
The resolution called upon the DPRK to join the CTBT
"at the earliest date."
Costa Rican Ambassador Jorge Urbina said the action
by the Security Council will hopefully provide the DPRK to return to
international dialogue and "we urge it do so as soon as possible."
Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the UN
Michel Kafando said his country, which is a signatory to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), condemned the nuclear tests conducted by the
DPRK, which "runs the risk of worsening tensions on the Korean Peninsula."
Kafando said: "We hope that since the resolution
takes into account all possible facets of the issue, that Resolution 1874 will
make an effective contribution towards finding a lasting solution to the North
Korean nuclear issue."
Speaking in his national capacity, Turkish UN
Ambassador Baki Ilkin, who is also the president of the Council for June, said
it was Turkey's "strong expectation" that the DPRK and the international
community comply and abide by the provisions in the resolution.
The resolution asked UN members to report on steps
they're taking to implement the sanctions within 45 days.
It also requested that the sanctions committee,
imposed in Resolution 1718 after the 2006 nuclear test, decide on further
entities, goods and individuals to be subject to the travel ban and asset freeze
within 30 days.
Sitting in on the vote as an observer, South Korean
Ambassador Choi Young-jin said that in conducting its second nuclear test, the
DPRK has "clearly demonstrated a complete disregard for its (prior)
commitments."
Choi added that his government "welcomes and fully
supports" the resolution, and urged the DPRK to "abandon its nuclear programs
once and for all."
After the Council session finished, Vietnamese
Ambassador Le Luong Minh told reporters that his delegation voted for the
"balanced" resolution because, in part, it does not affect the "normal
livelihood" of the people and legitimate humanitarian activities in the DPRK.
Later in the day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
issued a statement on the Council's "clear and strong message to the DPRK" and
reiterated his belief that all differences should be resolved in a peaceful
manner through dialogue.
In this regard, he called upon all concerned parties
to refrain from taking any measures that could exacerbate tensions in the region
and to exert their best efforts to re-engage in dialogue, including through
six-party talks.
The resolution requested that Ban create a panel of
up to seven experts to monitor the sanctions' enforcement and provide an interim
report on its work to the Council no later than 90 days after adoption of this
resolution, and a final report to the Council no later than 30 days prior to
termination of its mandate with its findings and recommendations.
UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
to fully comply with the resolution adopted by the Security Council in response
to its recent nuclear test.
Unanimously adopting Resolution 1874 earlier on Friday,
the 15-member Security Council imposed tougher sanctions on the DPRK, including
a tighter arms embargo and new financial restrictions, and urged the country to
immediately return to the six-party talks. Full story
UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China supports "an
appropriate and balanced reaction" from the UN Security Council to the nuclear
test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Chinese
envoy said here on Friday.
Zhang Yesui, Chinese permanent representative to the
United Nations, made the statement as he was speaking to the full Security
Council meeting after the 15-nation UN body unanimously adopted a resolution
condemning "in the strongest terms" the May 25 nuclear test by the DPRK, the
second since 2006. Full story
SEOUL, June 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Saturday praised
the adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution on a recent nuclear test
conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news
agency reported. Full story
TOKYO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro
Aso on Saturday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to take
the UN Security Council resolution "seriously," local media reported.
"We demand North Korea take seriously the international
community's unbending message in the resolution and comply with it," Aso said in
a statement shortly after the UN Security Council adopted the resolution over
Pyongyang's May 25 nuclear test. Full story
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration
on Friday voiced its satisfaction with a new UN Security Council resolution
against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), saying the resolution
would restrain the country's nuclear proliferation.
"We're very pleased the Security Council just within an
hour and a half passed a brand new resolution," U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Susan Rice told reporters at the press briefing in the White House, soon
after the 15-member body unanimously approved the resolution. Full story
