The resolution also demands North Korea suspend all activities related to its missile program and resume its self-imposed missile test moratorium announced in 1999 and renewed in 2002. The resolution, a compromise of two rival versions pushed by the U.S. and Japan on one side and China and Russia on the other side, had no mention of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter that allows the use of military power for its enforcement, but it still was considered a strong anti-North Korean message from the international community. Despite a chorus of international warnings, North Korea defiantly test-launched as many as seven missiles within 24 hours on July 5, including its long-range Taepodong-2 model believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast. The U.S., South Korea, Japan and other regional players called on North Korea to ease the tension by rejoining six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program that have been stalled since November. The North rejected the call, vowing to continue to stay away from the six-nation talks, which also involve China and Russia, until the U.S. lifts financial restrictions imposed on it over its alleged currency counterfeiting and other illegal activities. The U.S. has rejected the North's demand, saying that its financial crackdown has nothing to do with the nuclear talks. "The vicious hostile policy of the United States toward the DPRK and the irresponsibility of the the U.N. Security Council have created an extremely dangerous situation on the Korean Peninsula," the North's statement said. "It's a day-dream to calculate that our principle will alter due to the change of the world," it said. The North's missile capability is alarming especially because the country officially declared last year that it had nuclear weapons. Seoul, July 16 (Yonhap News)
