LEAD) U.S. working with UNSC members for possible sanctions: State Dept.

((ATTN: UPDATES with diplomat's remarks on draft resolution throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, May 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday said it was working
closely with the international community toward possible sanctions on North Korea
for its nuclear test early this week.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not elaborate on what kind of sanctions
Washington is seeking, but diplomats in New York said that the U.S.-drafted
resolution circulated later in the day among the 15-member U.N. Security Council
members calls for financial sanctions, among others, on North Korea.
"We're working up at the U.N. with our Security Council colleagues on what sort
of shape these consequences should take," Kelly told a daily news briefing.
"We're looking at a broad range of possible responses to it, including possible
sanctions."
The tone of Kelly's remarks was softer than those of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice,
who said Tuesday, "We're going to now pursue a very strong resolution in the
Security Council with substantially tougher sanctions."
North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test Monday, triggering the
15-member council to convene for the second time in about a month over
provocations from the North.
The test came after Pyongyang made repeated threats to do so, following the
council's sanctioning of three North Korean firms for its April 5 rocket launch.
North Korea has also expelled international nuclear monitors and threatened to
restart its disabled nuclear reactor, and has withdrawn from the six-party talks
on its denuclearization.
Kelly said the U.S. was trying to clarify Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov's remarks Wednesday that he would "oppose punishment for punishment's
sake."
"We have, I think, gone into the ministry for clarification of its remarks," he
said. "But the Russian Foreign Ministry, on the very first day of the crisis, put
out a very strong statement and they played a very constructive role in the
Security Council."
The spokesman said he still hopes that Russia, one of five veto powers in the
council, will join the U.S. in applying strong sanctions on North Korea.
"Our understanding is that our Russian colleague on the Security Council
understands the need for a strong message to send to North Korea to make them
understand that their actions were unacceptable and there must be consequences
for these actions," he said.
Some diplomatic sources said that China and Russia have so far been very
cooperative in pushing ahead with a strong, legally binding resolution against
the North, unlike last month, when they effectively thwarted the U.S. and its
allies. At that time, a largely symbolic council presidential statement was
adopted.
Others say it's not clear at the moment whether China will join the U.S., citing
a lack of a clear Chinese perception of the real intent of North Korea.
Kelly admitted the situation is complex.
"I will say that it's a very complex situation, and we're working very closely
with our colleagues on the Security Council," he said. "This is not going to be
something that we're going to be able to come up with in the next day or two. I'm
not going to put a timetable on it."
In an apparent attempt to maintain leverage, China -- North Korea's staunch
communist ally -- has traditionally refrained from sanctioning its nuclear-armed
but impoverished neighbor.
China provides most of the energy North Korea needs and is Pyongyang's largest
trading and investment partner. Beijing's approval is seen as the key to whether
the council will be able impose financial sanctions, favored by the U.S., which
froze tens of millions of dollars in North Korean assets in Macau's Banco Delta
Asia in 2005.
A draft resolution, distributed to the five permanent members of the council,
plus South Korea and Japan, in a follow-up to the meeting held Tuesday, "bans
loans to North Korea and virtually suspend all financial transactions between
North Korea and foreign financial institutions," a diplomat based in New York
said. "We need to consult our respective capitals about the draft over the coming
weekend."
The draft also toughens the provisions of Resolution 1718, adopted by the council
after North Korea's 2006 nuclear and missile tests, so that the North would be
barred from all weapons trade.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)