U.S. repeats call for strong UNSC response to N. Korean rocket launch

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The United States reiterated Tuesday that it
wants a strong response from the U.N. Security Council to North Korea's rocket
launch despite foot dragging by China and Russia.

"And we, again, are going to be working toward, as I said yesterday, a strong and
effective response from the Security Council," State Department spokesman Robert
Wood said in a daily news briefing. "This is an important issue. We want to make
sure that we get it right. We want to have the right response to what the North
has done, and so we're going to continue to work very hard on this track."
Wood, however, said he expects no quick action.
"Consultations are continuing in New York," he said. "This is not something you
can expect that's going to be solved immediately. This is going to take a little
time. You need to understand and have some patience with this process."
Wood was referring to the discussions under way at the Security Council for
possible sanctions against North Korea, which the U.S. and its allies said
violated U.N. Resolution 1718, which bans any ballistic and nuclear activity by
North Korea.
China and Russia, however, do not agree, insisting North Korea's launch of a
rocket for satellite delivery does not violate the resolution adopted in 2006
after North Korea's ballistic missile launch and detonation of its first nuclear
device.
Sanctions under the resolution, including an embargo of trade involving weapons
and their parts and luxury goods, have largely been neglected as China greatly
watered down the resolution to make its implementation voluntary.
In an effort to make a breakthrough in the UNSC discussion, which began Sunday,
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with her Chinese and Russian
counterparts by telephone Monday, Wood said.
Some experts say the U.S. may eventually seek stronger implementation of the
existing sanctions rather than adopting a new resolution in order not to
jeopardize six-party talks, deadlocked since December over how to verify North
Korea's past and current nuclear activity.
North Korea has threatened to scrap the six-party talks if the rocket launch is
brought to the Security Council, and hinted at conducting a 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 flight path.
The U.S. views the launch as a cover by the North to test its ballistic missile
capability.
Though a failed attempt to orbit a satellite, the North's rocket launch is seen
as a demonstration of North Korea's capability to shoot a rocket more than 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 in
1998 flew about 1,600 km.
Some analysts believe the rocket launch will revive 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.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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