U.N. resolution on N. Korea to be put to vote Monday: sources

A U.N. resolution on North Korea that could lead to sanctions against the communist nation for its provocative missile tests will likely be put to a vote at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) early next week, U.N. sources here said.

The sources said the United States and Japan are determined to send the anti-North Korea resolution to the UNSC at 10 a.m. Monday (local time), or 11 p.m. Monday (Seoul time), for voting.

The UNSC draft, if approved by over nine of the 15 UNSC member states, including all of the five permanent UNSC members, would condemn the missile tests and invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which could clear the way for sanctions or even military action.

Specifically, it would block the transfer of items to the North that could be used in missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.

Each permanent member state has veto powers, which can be used to void any resolution. Ten other UNSC members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, with five replaced each year.

But the outlook for the UNSC resolution is not optimistic, as China and Russia, which both have permanent UNSC seats, are opposed to any U.N. measures to punish North Korea.

"If this resolution is put to vote, there will be no unity in the Security Council," China's ambassador to the U.N., Wang Guangya, was quoted as telling reporters.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Tokyo, which has a temporary seat on the UNSC, was resolved to keep working for the resolution. He challenged China and Russia not to scupper the resolution.

North Korea has warned that any imposition of sanctions would be regarded as an "act of war." Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation about the North Korean missile problem, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its official Web site.

"The sides exchanged views on the discussion in the U.N. Security Council of the North Korean missile tests," the ministry said.

Details of their telephone discussion were not immediately known, but the two ministers were believed to have reconfirmed their countries' decision to veto any anti-North Korea resolution at the UNSC, observers in Beijing said.

New York/Beijin, July 9 (Yonhap News)