U.S. seeking strong resolution on N. Korea for nuke test: Rice

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Tuesday it will seek strong international condemnation of North Korea for its recent nuclear test, but left the door open for North Korea to return to six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions.

"We're going to now pursue a very strong resolution in the Security Council with
substantially tougher sanctions," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, told
NBC's "Today" show, noting that the nuclear test is "provocative, destabilizing,
and a threat to international and regional peace and security."
The 15-member council convened an emergency meeting Monday and agreed to
immediately begin drafting a resolution to condemn the North's nuclear test, the
second since 2006.
Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, who holds the rotating chair of the
council this month, said Monday that council members "voiced their strong
opposition and condemnation of the nuclear test," a "clear violation" of an
earlier resolution.
North Korea said it conducted an underground nuclear test Monday, inviting strong
criticism not only from the U.S. and its allies, but also from North Korea's
allies, China and Russia, who had greatly diluted sanctions against North Korea
following its rocket launch last month.
The test comes after the North's repeated threats to do so following the
council's sanctioning of three North Korean firms for its April 5 rocket launch,
which Pyongyang insists put a satellite into orbit.
North Korea also has expelled international nuclear monitors and threatened to
restart its disabled nuclear reactor and boycott six-party talks on its
denuclearization.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, meanwhile, urged North Korea to return
to the six-party talks.
"We think that the best way is ... the six-party talks, because you leverage some
of North Korea's neighbors -- China, Russia, South Korea, Japan," he said.
"Patience, obviously, is not infinite. But we feel the door does still remain
open, that we're ready to engage. And we hope that North Korea will make the
right choice and choose to engage constructively."
The spokesman dismissed allegations that the Obama administration may change its
North Korea policy after the test.
"I don't think I'm prepared to say that we're looking at a fundamental change,"
he said. "I mean, we have a path forward, and we continue to believe that
multilateral leverage is the way to go."
Kelly reinforced Rice's remarks, saying, "We look forward to working with our
colleagues on the council to craft a strong, unequivocal and unified response to
North Korea's grave violation of international law."
"I'm not going to prejudge how this is all going to come out with our partners,"
he said. "But we believe that we should have a new resolution."
Diplomatic sources predict that the council will adopt a legally binding
resolution this time. Last month, the U.S. and its allies agreed to a
presidential statement on North Korea's rocket launch in the face of opposition
from China and Russia, who hold veto power in the council.
China, North Korea's staunchest ally, demanded Tuesday that North Korea "keep its
promise of denuclearization and cease all actions that could further worsen the
situation," while Russia said it feared the test would "provoke an escalation of
tensions in Northeast Asia."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday spoke with Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov, and "reiterated the importance of a quick, unified
response to North Korea's provocative action," Kelly said.
Clinton also contacted her counterparts from South Korea, China, Japan and
Australia Monday to discuss how to punish the North.
Rice, meanwhile, said the U.S. is committed to prohibiting North Korea from
shipping its nuclear weapons and missiles abroad.
"We're also going to be prepared to begin to interdict North Korea as it tries to
ship prohibited cargo," she said.
In an apparent response to the nuclear test, South Korea announced Tuesday it
will fully participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S-led
consortium of 95 countries aimed at intercepting vessels and airplanes suspected
of trading in weapons of mass destruction.
Seoul had in the past been reluctant to fully participate so as not to provoke
Pyongyang, which had said it would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
The White House said Monday that U.S. President Barack Obama has "expressed his
appreciation to President Lee (Myung-bak) for the decision by the Republic of
Korea to join the Proliferation Security Initiative."
Rice took note of North Korea's record of proliferation, saying "That's why
constraining its ability to share these nuclear materials with other countries
and with rogue actors is a top priority."
She said the U.S. is "prepared to look at a wide range of measures in the United
Nations Security Council and elsewhere that would increase the pressure and limit
their ability to proliferate further."
Appearing on another program, the "Early Show" of CBS, Rice predicted "additional
sanctions" against North Korea, adding the Security Council intends to pursue a
resolution "that will have teeth in it."
"The pressure will increase in North Korea economically and otherwise, and North
Korea will recognize that its actions have only left it further isolated and
further debilitated," she said.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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