ID :
54232
Tue, 04/07/2009 - 12:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/54232
The shortlink copeid
Rice calls for strong response to N. Korean rocket launch
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday called for a strong response to North Korea's rocket launch at the U.N. Security Council even as China and Russia side with Pyongyang's claim it is a satellite launch as part of space program.
"Well, the United States' view, as I said, is that a clear and strong response is
important and required in this instance," the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan
Rice, told a CBS program. "We think the most appropriate response would be a
United Nations Security Council resolution that would be binding under
international law."
The council is expected to convene later Monday for the second time in as many
days to discuss Japan's call for possible sanctions on the North, which launched
a rocket Sunday over Japan.
During Sunday's three-hour closed-door session, China opposed any move by the
U.S. and its allies to further sanction the North, saying it did not see North
Korea's rocket launch as a violation of Security Council Resolution 1718, adopted
in 2006 after North Korea's first nuclear test.
Russia and three other members of the 15-member council sided with China, which
has veto power along with Russia.
The Chinese ambassador to the U.N., Zhang Yesui, Sunday called for the Security
Council's response to be "cautious and proportionate," while Russia urged "all
involved states to show restraint."
It took several days for the Security Council to adopt Resolution 1718 against
North Korea after the detonation of its first nuclear device in 2006.
The 2006 resolution bans any ballistic and nuclear activity by North Korea and
prohibits member states from trading in weapons, weapons parts and luxury goods
with the reclusive communist state.
Sanctions imposed under the resolution, however, were rendered largely
ineffective by China, which inserted a clause allowing member states to implement
the sanctions at their own discretion.
Faced with strong opposition from China and Russia, the U.S. may eventually seek
a stronger implementation of the existing sanctions rather than adopting a new
resolution, some experts said.
Rice was still adamant. "But obviously, whether through the Security Council or
through other means, we think it's important to send a strong message to North
Korea that it can't act with impunity," she said.
She also urged the North to "come back to the table and we need to push forward
in our shared efforts to achieve a Korean peninsula without nuclear weapons."
North Korea has threatened to scrap the six-party talks, deadlocked over how to
verify its past and present nuclear activities, if the rocket launch is brought
to the Security Council, and hinted at conducting its second nuclear test.
The Pentagon has said that the first stage of the rocket fell into waters of the
East Sea between Korea and Japan and the second and third stages together
splashed into waters off Hawaii without reaching space.
The range was reportedly about 3,200 km, although the U.S. military has not yet
fully released all the information on its track records.
The U.S. views the launch as a cover by the North to test its ballistic missile
capability.
North Korea claimed that the rocket successfully put a satellite into orbit.
Rice dismissed North Korea's claim, saying, "From the information we have
available to us at this point, we see no evidence that they launched a satellite
in orbit, as they've claimed."
She described the rocket launch as "a setback for what the North Koreans were
trying to achieve, but a serious development nonetheless and one that we and
others take very seriously."
Some analysts believe that the rocket launch, though a failed attempt to orbit a
satellite, still should be seen as a partial success in that the North has
demonstrated its capability to shoot a long-range rocket over 3,200 km, more than
double the range it achieved in 1998.
The North's 2006 launch fizzled within one minute, and its first rocket launch
flew about 1,500 km.
The rocket launch might serve as a catalyst for the U.S. to resume the missile
talks with North Korea, suspended a decade ago under the Bill Clinton
administration over Pyongyang's demand that Washington pay up to US$1 billion
annually in return for the North's suspension of development, deployment and
shipments of its missiles.
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday called for a strong response to North Korea's rocket launch at the U.N. Security Council even as China and Russia side with Pyongyang's claim it is a satellite launch as part of space program.
"Well, the United States' view, as I said, is that a clear and strong response is
important and required in this instance," the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan
Rice, told a CBS program. "We think the most appropriate response would be a
United Nations Security Council resolution that would be binding under
international law."
The council is expected to convene later Monday for the second time in as many
days to discuss Japan's call for possible sanctions on the North, which launched
a rocket Sunday over Japan.
During Sunday's three-hour closed-door session, China opposed any move by the
U.S. and its allies to further sanction the North, saying it did not see North
Korea's rocket launch as a violation of Security Council Resolution 1718, adopted
in 2006 after North Korea's first nuclear test.
Russia and three other members of the 15-member council sided with China, which
has veto power along with Russia.
The Chinese ambassador to the U.N., Zhang Yesui, Sunday called for the Security
Council's response to be "cautious and proportionate," while Russia urged "all
involved states to show restraint."
It took several days for the Security Council to adopt Resolution 1718 against
North Korea after the detonation of its first nuclear device in 2006.
The 2006 resolution bans any ballistic and nuclear activity by North Korea and
prohibits member states from trading in weapons, weapons parts and luxury goods
with the reclusive communist state.
Sanctions imposed under the resolution, however, were rendered largely
ineffective by China, which inserted a clause allowing member states to implement
the sanctions at their own discretion.
Faced with strong opposition from China and Russia, the U.S. may eventually seek
a stronger implementation of the existing sanctions rather than adopting a new
resolution, some experts said.
Rice was still adamant. "But obviously, whether through the Security Council or
through other means, we think it's important to send a strong message to North
Korea that it can't act with impunity," she said.
She also urged the North to "come back to the table and we need to push forward
in our shared efforts to achieve a Korean peninsula without nuclear weapons."
North Korea has threatened to scrap the six-party talks, deadlocked over how to
verify its past and present nuclear activities, if the rocket launch is brought
to the Security Council, and hinted at conducting its second nuclear test.
The Pentagon has said that the first stage of the rocket fell into waters of the
East Sea between Korea and Japan and the second and third stages together
splashed into waters off Hawaii without reaching space.
The range was reportedly about 3,200 km, although the U.S. military has not yet
fully released all the information on its track records.
The U.S. views the launch as a cover by the North to test its ballistic missile
capability.
North Korea claimed that the rocket successfully put a satellite into orbit.
Rice dismissed North Korea's claim, saying, "From the information we have
available to us at this point, we see no evidence that they launched a satellite
in orbit, as they've claimed."
She described the rocket launch as "a setback for what the North Koreans were
trying to achieve, but a serious development nonetheless and one that we and
others take very seriously."
Some analysts believe that the rocket launch, though a failed attempt to orbit a
satellite, still should be seen as a partial success in that the North has
demonstrated its capability to shoot a long-range rocket over 3,200 km, more than
double the range it achieved in 1998.
The North's 2006 launch fizzled within one minute, and its first rocket launch
flew about 1,500 km.
The rocket launch might serve as a catalyst for the U.S. to resume the missile
talks with North Korea, suspended a decade ago under the Bill Clinton
administration over Pyongyang's demand that Washington pay up to US$1 billion
annually in return for the North's suspension of development, deployment and
shipments of its missiles.
