ID :
55022
Mon, 04/13/2009 - 07:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/55022
The shortlink copeid
Major UNSC members agree on statement condemning rocket launch: diplomats
NEW YORK, April 11 (Yonhap) -- Five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Japan Saturday agreed to a draft council presidential statement condemning North Korea's rocket launch and calling for further sanctions, diplomats said.
A full 15-nation council will convene Monday to vote on the draft statement,
Mexico's U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, who holds a rotating chair this month,
told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the P-5 plus Japan. The council's
veto-wielding P-5 includes the U.S., China, Russia, France and Britain.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed an agreement was reached on a presidential
statement, saying, "We think this text sends a clear message."
Japanese Ambassador to the U.N. Yukio Takasu said the statement carries "a strong
message we have not seen among presidential statements adopted in the past."
The agreement comes six days after North Korea launched a rocket Sunday to place
a communications satellite into orbit, which the U.S. and its allies see as a
cover for ballistic missile launch.
China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, and Russia, have been siding with
North Korea's claim that it has the right to send a satellite into space as part
of its space program.
The draft statement "condemns the April 5, 2009, launch by the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, which is in contravention of Security Council
resolution 1718." The DPRK is North Korea's official name.
Resolution 1718, adopted in 2006 after North Korea's ballistic missile and
nuclear test, bans the reclusive communist state from conducting further
ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
The resolution also calls for member states to refrain from trading in weapons,
parts and luxury goods with North Korea, but has largely been neglected due to
lack of strong implementation measures.
In this context, the draft statement demands that the council's sanctions
committee to list North Korean companies and goods to be subjected to the trade
embargo by the end of this month.
The draft presidential statement is a compromise as China and Russia have
vehemently opposed the move by the U.S. and its allies to adopt a legally binding
resolution against the rocket launch.
China has proposed a press release expressing concerns over the rocket launch.
The presidential statement requires an endorsement of the full council meeting
before it is read by the president in the council's chamber, while the press
release is read outside of the chamber for reporters without the council's
endorsement.
The draft statement also demands that North Korea refrain from any further
ballistic missile launch and return to the six-party talks, which are deadlocked
over how to verify its past and present nuclear activities.
North Korea has threatened to scrap the multilateral nuclear talks if the rocket
launch is brought to the security council, hinting at another nuclear test.
Analysts say North Korea's rocket launch was aimed at consolidating North Korea
leader Kim Jong-il's power amid rumors of his failing health and the possible
nomination of his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor in another
dynastic power transfer.
The rocket was launched just days before the new Supreme People's Assembly, North
Korea's parliament, reelected Kim Thursday, ending suspicions that his grip on
state affairs has been slipping after he reportedly suffered a stroke last
summer.
Kim ascended to power in 1994 after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, North
Korea's founder.
On Thursday, the North's parliament appointed Chang Song-thaek, Kim's
brother-in-law, as a member of the all-powerful National Defense Commission,
which controls the North's military, as well as political and economic affairs,
apparently to allow Chang to play a caretaker role in a smooth power transition.
None of Kim's three sons has had major posts in the government, military or the
North's ruling Workers Party, although Kim had consolidated power for two decades
in various party and government posts until his father's death in 1994.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
A full 15-nation council will convene Monday to vote on the draft statement,
Mexico's U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, who holds a rotating chair this month,
told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the P-5 plus Japan. The council's
veto-wielding P-5 includes the U.S., China, Russia, France and Britain.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed an agreement was reached on a presidential
statement, saying, "We think this text sends a clear message."
Japanese Ambassador to the U.N. Yukio Takasu said the statement carries "a strong
message we have not seen among presidential statements adopted in the past."
The agreement comes six days after North Korea launched a rocket Sunday to place
a communications satellite into orbit, which the U.S. and its allies see as a
cover for ballistic missile launch.
China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, and Russia, have been siding with
North Korea's claim that it has the right to send a satellite into space as part
of its space program.
The draft statement "condemns the April 5, 2009, launch by the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, which is in contravention of Security Council
resolution 1718." The DPRK is North Korea's official name.
Resolution 1718, adopted in 2006 after North Korea's ballistic missile and
nuclear test, bans the reclusive communist state from conducting further
ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
The resolution also calls for member states to refrain from trading in weapons,
parts and luxury goods with North Korea, but has largely been neglected due to
lack of strong implementation measures.
In this context, the draft statement demands that the council's sanctions
committee to list North Korean companies and goods to be subjected to the trade
embargo by the end of this month.
The draft presidential statement is a compromise as China and Russia have
vehemently opposed the move by the U.S. and its allies to adopt a legally binding
resolution against the rocket launch.
China has proposed a press release expressing concerns over the rocket launch.
The presidential statement requires an endorsement of the full council meeting
before it is read by the president in the council's chamber, while the press
release is read outside of the chamber for reporters without the council's
endorsement.
The draft statement also demands that North Korea refrain from any further
ballistic missile launch and return to the six-party talks, which are deadlocked
over how to verify its past and present nuclear activities.
North Korea has threatened to scrap the multilateral nuclear talks if the rocket
launch is brought to the security council, hinting at another nuclear test.
Analysts say North Korea's rocket launch was aimed at consolidating North Korea
leader Kim Jong-il's power amid rumors of his failing health and the possible
nomination of his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor in another
dynastic power transfer.
The rocket was launched just days before the new Supreme People's Assembly, North
Korea's parliament, reelected Kim Thursday, ending suspicions that his grip on
state affairs has been slipping after he reportedly suffered a stroke last
summer.
Kim ascended to power in 1994 after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, North
Korea's founder.
On Thursday, the North's parliament appointed Chang Song-thaek, Kim's
brother-in-law, as a member of the all-powerful National Defense Commission,
which controls the North's military, as well as political and economic affairs,
apparently to allow Chang to play a caretaker role in a smooth power transition.
None of Kim's three sons has had major posts in the government, military or the
North's ruling Workers Party, although Kim had consolidated power for two decades
in various party and government posts until his father's death in 1994.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
