(2nd LD) Obama denounces N. Korea's rocket launch, vows to bring it to UNSC

(ATTN: UPDATES with minor edits)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 5 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday denounced
North Korea for launching a "Taepodong 2 missile" in violation of a U.N.
resolution and pledged to bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council for
possible additional sanctions.
"We will immediately consult with our allies in the region, including Japan and
the Republic of Korea, and members of the U.N. Security Council to bring this
matter before the Council," Obama said in a statement from Prague that was
released by the White House. "The launch today of a Taepodong 2 missile was a
clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which
expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related
activities of any kind."
The State Department confirmed that the launch took place at 10:30 p.m. EDT
Saturday (0230 GMT Sunday).
Obama still used the word missile, although South Korean officials said that
North Korea appears to have launched a space vehicle, possibly for satellite
delivery, citing the trajectory of the rocket. They added it was unclear whether
the launch successfully orbited a communications satellite.
Obama met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Wednesday in London, where
they agreed to bring the North's rocket launch to the security council.
Chinese President Hu Jintao also met with Obama on the margins of the G20 summit
in London but refrained from giving the same assurance as Beijing is reluctant to
condemn its longtime ally.
The U.S. has reportedly circulated a draft resolution to be discussed at a U.N.
Security Council meeting as early as Sunday on punitive actions against the
launch. Washington and its allies insist the launch violated U.N. Resolution
1718, adopted after the North's nuclear test in 2006.
China and Russia are widely expected to oppose such a move as they have been
sympathetic to North Korea's claim that it has the right develop a peaceful space
program.
Some experts predict a chairman's statement will be issued to reiterate the
importance of enforcing the resolution.
"We urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security
Council and to refrain from further provocative actions," said Obama, now on a
European tour following his attendance at the G20 economic summit. He is to
return home Tuesday.
"With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international
obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated
itself from the community of nations," he said. "North Korea's development and
proliferation of ballistic missile technology poses a threat to the northeast
Asian region and to international peace and security."
"Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of
delivery is a high priority for my administration," he said. "The United States
is fully committed to maintaining security and stability in northeast Asia and we
will continue working for the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
through the Six-Party Talks."
He urged the North to return to the six-party talks that remain stalled over how
to verify North Korea's past and present nuclear activities.
The six-nation negotiations "provide the forum for achieving denuclearization,
reducing tensions, and for resolving other issues of concern between North Korea,
its four neighbors, and the United States," he said. "North Korea has a pathway
to acceptance in the international community, but it will not find that
acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and
abides by its international obligations and commitments."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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