Security Council delays decision on North Korea after nuclear test

A BID for swift new sanctions by the UN Security Council on North Korea after it tested a nuclear weapon last Wednesday has been delayed by extended negotiations, most likely on the type of measures to be taken.

A Western diplomat yesterday confirmed that discussions are continuing.

But he added: “We’re not detailing with those discussions.”

Based on a unanimous statement by the council condemning the test last Wednesday it did not appear that either Russia or China, both with ties to Pyongyang, were prepared to block a sanctions resolution.

But disagreements over which North Korean companies and individuals would be hit with financial and travel sanctions could be holding up agreement on a text.

The blast was “a clear threat to international peace and security” and the council would begin “immediately” to draft a new resolution based on its previous agreement to “take further significant measures in the event of another test”, the council statement said.

Motohide Yoshikawa, Japan’s ambassador to the UN, last Wednesday said the fourth North Korean nuclear test was a “very clear violation” of the will of the Security Council and that Japan wanted a new “robust” resolution to be adopted swiftly.

“We think that if no further significant measures are taken by the Security Council, its authority and credibility would be put into question,” Yoshikawa said.

North Korea says its nuclear weapons programme is purely defensive in nature to protect itself from the US, which has a vast nuclear arsenal. The US has also increased its offensive capabilities in the Asia Pacific coast region in recent years.

The US and its allies, particularly South Korea and Japan, see the nuclear test as a major threat.

The North is known however for repeatedly making idle threats to start World War III that have come to be dismissed by the West.

Hawks in the US have raised the alarm about North Korea’s potential to develop a ballistic missile with a warhead that could reach the US Pacific coast.

The Republican-dominated House of Representatives was to vote later yesterday on the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act, which would deny Pyongyang the currency needed to fund its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programme. – Foreign Service