UNSC may agree on response to N. Korean rocket over weekend

SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is expected to reach a tentative agreement over the weekend on how to a respond to North Korea's recent rocket launch, diplomatic sources here said Saturday.

North Korea claimed it successfully sent a communications satellite into orbit
after firing a three-stage rocket last Sunday, while South Korea and the U.S.
believe the rocket launch was a failure.
The launch was denounced by South Korea and its allies as a violation of a U.N.
Security Council resolution 1718, adopted after the North's nuclear and ballistic
missile tests in 2006.
China and Russia, however, has insisted that a rocket launch for satellite
delivery does not violate the resolution 1718, adopted in 2006 after North
Korea's ballistic missile launch and detonation of its first nuclear device.
According to officials, five veto-wielding permanent members of the UNSC and a
representative from Japan were scheduled to convene Sunday (Saturday in New York)
to finalize a drafting a chairman's statement on Pyongyang's missile launch.
The chairman's statement is expected to condemn North Korea's rocket launch and
urge Pyongyang to fulfill its duties regarding the resolution. Japan, which has
pressed for the statement to include stiffened sanctions on the isolated country,
was reportedly planning to withdraw its demand.
"The council may reach a tentative, if not a final, agreement on Sunday," an
official said, adding that the council will may endorse the statement through a
vote next week.
The U.S. has reportedly circulated a draft resolution to be discussed at the
security council meeting on punitive action.
North Korea has warned that any U.N. action against its satellite launch will be
considered a "hostile act" that will rupture the six-party denuclearization talks
and prompt Pyongyang to reverse the disabling process of its key nuclear reactor.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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