The U.N. Security Council is expected to adopt a new U.S. draft resolution slapping non-military global sanctions on North Korea this weekend, after Washington acceded to Beijing's demand to soften the harshness of punitive actions.
The move came as Japan's Cabinet approved its own fresh sanctions on North Korea, which announced Monday it performed its first-ever nuclear test, triggering a chorus of international condemnation.
The new sanctions, which includes a ban on imports from the North and closing Japanese ports to North Korean boats, was authorized, although North Korea vowed to retaliate.
In New York, after days of debate, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Japan reached a basic agreement to vote on the resolution on Saturday, diplomats and news reports said.
"We have almost resolved, and I think we really worked hard," Japan's U.N. ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, told reporters, according to Japan's Kyodo News. Oshima currently holds the 15-mebmer council's rotating presidency.
"With good will and sprit of cooperation and most importantly, prompted by the need to keep council unity, I think we worked in a very constructive sprit."
The council members neared an agreement restricting a U.N. resolution to Charter 7's Article 41, which would only authorize a narrow list of non-military sanctions, diplomatic sources said.
Whether a resolution is passed under the controversial Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter was a main sticking point between U.S. and Chinese envoys, as that allows for the use of armed forces as a last resort. A previous U.N. draft resolution included the charter.
China is believed to have the most leverage over Pyongyang, as it is North Korea's key ally and main aid benefactor. Experts say China does not support crippling sanctions that could cause the North Korean regime to collapse, sending millions of refugees across the Sino-Korean border. China is also concerned of facing a pro-U.S., unified Korea.
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said that "good progress has been made" in revising the draft resolution. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton also said "We have made very substantial progress. I don't want to say we've reached agreement yet, but many, many of the significant differences have been closed, very much to our satisfaction."
According to the Associated Press, the revised draft states any further U.N. action would need a new U.N. resolution, which was a key demand of China. The agency also said the new draft eliminates the blanket arms embargo in the previous one, imposes sanctions on specific equipment including tanks, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile systems, armored combat vehicles and large caliber artillery systems.
The revised draft also ban all member states from selling or transferring luxury goods and materials and technology that could contribute North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile and other weapons of mass destruction programs.
"We should act with a cool head and moderation and also do everything to achieve a political, diplomatic outcome of this problem - and this is the spirit we had in those discussions," said Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. Russia also opposed too harsh measures on the North.
"It's not assured we're going to get there, but the mood is good and the effort is good, too."
The passage of a U.N. resolution is expected to deepen the spiraling global standoff over the North's nuclear threats, as the communist state repeatedly vowed to take retaliatory measures against any hostile stance on it.
"We will take strong countermeasures," said Song Il-ho, a North Korean ambassador on normalization talks with Japan, told Japan's Kyodo News Thursday.
"The specific contents will become clear if you keep watching. We never speak empty words," he was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
The previous day, North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam threatened to conduct additional nuclear tests, while the country's foreign ministry said it would take "physical countermeasures." U.S. President George W. Bush and other top American officials called for the swift passage of concerted U.N. actions on the North, but said they would not consider military strikes.
"I believe the commander-in-chief must try all diplomatic measures before we commit our military," Bush said Wednesday, when asked why he is not pursuing a military strike.
International diplomatic efforts have also been underway to resolve the security standoff, which flared four years ago when U.S. officials accused North Korea of running a clandestine nuclear program.
On Thursday, a senior Chinese envoy, Tang Jiaxuan met President Bush and other top officials and discussed how to ease the tension.
Bush's aides said Tang's meeting with Bush was meaningful but acknowledged there were differences on how to deal with North Korea.
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun flew to Beijing on Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The two were to discuss sanctions on North Korea and a press briefing was scheduled for later Friday.
At home, Roh, who has pursued a reconciliatory policy on North Korea, has been increasing demands to abandon his engagement policy.
In Seoul, calls have risen to request the United States to deploy nuclear weapons on the peninsula again to deter possible aggression from a nuclear-armed North Korea. The U.S. military withdrew all tactical weapons from South Korea under a 1991 accord aimed at making the peninsula nuclear-free.
The re-introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons is expected to be a main topic when the defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. met in Washington next week.
In related news, a public poll showed Thursday that 65 percent of South Koreans believe their country should become a nuclear power.
New York, Oct. 13 (Yonhap News)
U.N. Security Council expected to pass resolution N. Korea on Saturday |
