The Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose strict sanctions on North Korea for its reported nuclear test, overcoming objections from Russia and China by explicitly excludin
Security Council Backs Sanctions on North Korea
Published: October 15, 2006
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 "” The Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose strict sanctions on North Korea for its reported nuclear test, overcoming objections from Russia and China by explicitly excluding the threat of military force.
The resolution, drafted by the United States , clears the way for the toughest international action against North Korea since the end of the Korean War. Primarily, it bars the sale or transfer of material that could be used to make nuclear, biological and chemical weapons or ballistic missiles, and it bans international travel and freezes the overseas assets of people associated with the North's weapons programs.
In its most debated clause, the resolution authorizes all countries to inspect cargo going in and out of North Korea to detect illicit weapons.
That power was the sticking point in days of what the Russian ambassador called "tense negotiations" with China and Russia that continued up until minutes before the final vote Saturday afternoon. And less than an hour after joining in the Council vote for the resolution, the Chinese ambassador, Wang Guangya, said China would not participate in the inspection regime because it would create "conflict that could have serious implications for the region."
He said China supported the resolution as a necessary way to respond to Pyongyang 's "flagrant" behavior.
The 15-0 vote came days after North Korea 's claim it had tested a nuclear device, reflecting the immediate global alarm that such a weapon could wind up in the hands of terrorists or other rogue states. Indeed, the resolution's wording hit most of the tough points the United States and Japan , in particular, had sought.
But China 's refusal to take part in searches, and Russia 's seeming annoyance at the end of the process, immediately raised questions about how effective the resolution's execution could be. And it raised the prospect, too, that similar action sought by the United States against Iran could face a much tougher battle.
After the vote, John R. Bolton, the American ambassador, insisted that China was bound by the resolution's terms and would have to find a way to comply with the inspection provision. "I can't believe that China won't adhere to obligations that the Security Council has imposed," he said.
Ambassador Pak Gil-yon of North Korea told the Council that his government "totally rejected" the resolution, and he accused the panel's members of "gangster-like" action and a "double standards" attitude that neglected the nuclear threat posed by the United States .
He said if the United States continued to "increase pressure" on North Korea , his government would consider it a declaration of war and take "critical countermeasures." He then rose from his guest seat at the end of the horseshoe-shaped table and left.
Mr. Bolton asked to be heard and pointed to the empty chair, saying Mr. Pak's impulsive departure was the equivalent of Khrushchev's pounding his desk in protest in the General Assembly. The Russian ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, complained that the reference, even at a moment that he described as Mr. Bolton's "emotional state," was "an inappropriate analogy."
Current and former Bush administration officials, and experts on the North, said that while the sanctions did not go as far as Washington wished, they probably gave it and Japan the legal means to squeeze the country. They provide the basis to inspect ships in ports around the world "” though not necessarily on the high seas "” and gives Washington a way to expand a program to force banks to halt dealings with the country.
Earlier this year, Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, said that the huge pressure put on one small bank in Macao , Banco Delta Asia, "was the first thing we ever did that got their attention." Today one of his aides said, "Our plan is that Banco Delta is just a beginning."
What the administration did not get was authority to use military force to stop ships in international waters. To win over China , it agreed to drop explicit reference to a chapter of the United Nations Charter that authorizes the possible use of military power to enforce sanctions.
"This isn't going to be like the Cuban missile crisis, where we put up a full blockade," said Michael Green, who led Asia operations on the National Security Council staff until last year, and is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The big loophole concerns policing the North's border with China . The two countries had about $1.7 billion in trade last year. The Chinese declaration Saturday cast doubt on the likelihood that China would inspect, much less stop, much of the trade moving across that border.
Speaking Saturday outside the White House, President Bush said the resolution sent "a clear message to the leader of North Korea regarding his weapons programs. This action by the United Nations, which was swift and tough, says that we are united in our determination to see to it that the Korea Peninsula is nuclear-weapons- free."
In addition to the sanctions and search regime, the resolution demands that North Korea abandon its illicit weapons programs and rejoin the nonproliferation treaty, and it calls on the government to return to the so-called six-nation talks involving South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
[On Sunday, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Aleksandr Y. Alekseyev, who arrived in Beijing following talks in North Korea, said, "Several times the North Korean side returned to the question that the six-sided process should continue, that they have not rejected the six-sided negotiations and that the goal of the six-sided negotiations "” the full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula "” remains," according to the official Russian Information Agency.]
A ban on the shipment of luxury goods in the resolution was particularly championed by Mr. Bolton and J. D. Crouch, the deputy national security adviser, as a way to harm the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, administration officials said. Mr. Kim does not command the kind of loyalty that his father, Kim Il-sung, the country's father and "Great Leader," did until his death in 1994. So instead, according to North Korean defectors, he buys allegiance with Mercedes-Benz cars, bottles of cognac and plenty of walking-around money.
Mr. Bolton alluded to that this week when he said that one intent of the resolution was to put Mr. Kim, who presides over a starving country but travels on luxurious train cars, on a diet. He said that the resolution left Pyongyang "utterly and totally isolated" and that the government should see its only way back to international acceptance was "abandoning weapons of mass destruction and not continuing to go after them."
Mr. Bolton said the measure was aimed at illicit activities of Pyongyang like "money laundering, counterfeiting and selling of narcotics." Those words, however, were removed to gain Chinese and Russian approval. The final draft also dropped a broad arms embargo in favor of one just on heavy equipment like battle tanks, artillery systems, missiles and warships.
Despite the changes, Mr. Bolton said, "We think this represents essentially what the United States was asking for when it circulated its draft resolution on Monday."
Asked about the effect of Saturday's decision on the debate expected next week over sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear program, he said, "I think this shows quite strongly that the Council is not going to tolerate proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and Iran should learn from this lesson."
But Mr. Churkin, the Russian ambassador, signaled that an obstacle in the talks over North Korea would also arise in the Iran debate, where Russia and China have also been reluctant to back direct punishments.
Noting that in the cases of both North Korea and Iran , the United States had imposed its own sanctions, he said, "It is unhealthy that when discussing collective measures and trying to be cooperative and forming a unified approach, one country comes out and adopts unilateral measures which also apply to other countries that are participating in the discussion."
He said, "We very much hope that our American colleagues understand, in terms of the problems we have to solve and tackle in the next stage of our work in the Security Council."
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Objections may delay N.Korea r
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Despite winning key concessions, Russia and China raised new objections that could delay a vote Saturday on a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing punishing sanctions on N
UNITED NATIONS - Despite winning key concessions, Russia and China raised new objections that could delay a vote Saturday on a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing punishing sanctions on North Korea for its claimed nuclear test.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the changes sought by Moscow and Beijing were essentially technical in nature and a vote may still be possible Saturday.
The five permanent council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and Japan were to meet in the morning before the full 15-member council convenes to discuss the changes.
"I'm still ready to go for a vote, and we'll just have to see what the instructions are overnight, in particular from Moscow and China," Bolton said late Friday.
The latest draft demands North Korea eliminate all its nuclear weapons but expressly rules out military action against the country, a demand by the Russians and Chinese. The Americans also eliminated a complete ban on the sale of conventional weapons; instead, the draft limits the embargo to major hardware such as tanks, warships, combat aircraft and missiles.
But the resolution would still ban the import or export of material and equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles, and would authorize all countries to inspect cargo leaving and arriving in North Korea to prevent any illegal trafficking.
In another key change to gain Chinese and Russian support, the resolution now says local authorities will cooperate in the inspection process, which covers shipments by land, air and sea. Both China and Russia share borders with North Korea and are uncomfortable with the possibility of the U.S. inderdicting ships near their coasts. Bolton said he expected most actions would be performed at ports.
The accord came as U.S. officials said Friday that an air sampling after North Korea's claimed nuclear test detected radioactive debris consistent with an atomic explosion. However, the Bush administration and congressional officials said no final determination had been made about the nature of Monday's mystery-shrouded blast.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.
Results from another test disclosed Friday — an initial air sampling on Tuesday — showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a U.S. government intelligence official said.
Meanwhile, North Korean ships loaded their final cargo of secondhand bicycles and household appliances in the Japanese port city of Sakaiminato after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet agreed to ban trade with the communist state. The unilateral Japanese sanctions also include a six-month ban on travel to Japan by all North Korean government officials.
The U.S. and other nations trying to persuade the North to give up its atomic program continued a flurry of high-level diplomatic visits. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned a trip next week to Asia; Russia sent an envoy to Pyongyang; and the presidents of China and South Korea — the North's main sources of trade and aid — met in Beijing to discuss the proposed resolution.
The U.S.-sponsored draft would declare the claimed test had increased tension in northeast Asia, creating "a clear threat to international peace and security." It would declare the act in "flagrant disregard" of the council's appeal not to detonate a nuclear device, demand that North Korea not conduct any further test or launch any more ballistic missiles, and authorize a range of economic and diplomatic sanctions.
The draft would freeze the financial assets of and impose a travel ban on individuals and entities with any connection to North Korea's weapons or missile programs. It would also ban countries from selling luxury goods to North Korea.
Asked why, Bolton said, "I think the North Korean population has been losing average height and weight over the years and maybe this will be a little diet for Kim Jong Il," North Korea's leader.
Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, asked earlier whether Beijing was prepared to go along with the ban, said: "I don't know what luxury goods means, because luxury goods can mean many things for different people ... if they don't have it."
The latest draft resolution still invokes Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which the U.S. views as a necessary because it makes economic and diplomatic sanctions mandatory.
China and Russia normally object to the Chapter 7 provision because it carries the possibility of military enforcement. The Bush administration used the same provision to justify its invasion of Iraq, and Moscow and Beijing worry the U.S. might do the same eventually with North Korea — even though President Bush has said the U.S. has no plans to attack.
But in a compromise also used in July to unanimously vote on a resolution condemning North Korean missile launches, the text added mention of Article 41 of the chapter, which permits only "means not involving the use of military force."
The resolution would rely on all countries to implement the sanctions, but it would create a committee comprising all 15 Security Council nations to monitor enforcement and report any violations to the council.
Rice's trip to China, South Korea and Japan is the next step in the U.S. diplomatic offensive at the United Nations and with Pyongyang's neighbors. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said "she's going to be talking about the passage of that resolution certainly, but really what comes after."
The trip is meant to present a unified front to North Korea, which will be looking for any cracks in the diplomatic coalition behind the U.N. statement.
A Russian nuclear envoy who visited North Korea said Saturday he pressed the North to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev said he had a "very useful" meeting Friday with Kim Gye Gwan, the North's nuclear negotiator, but didn't say how Kim responded. Alexeyev spoke on his arrival in Beijing from Pyongyang, North Korea's capital.
Pyongyang has boycotted the six-nation talks for the past 13 months to protest financial measures imposed by Washington for alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.
Earlier a Russian news agency quoted Alexeyev as saying North Korea favors the implementation of a year-old agreement to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
The report apparently referred to an agreement reached in September 2005 at the talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. If the Russian report is confirmed, it could signify a major breakthrough in efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
___
Associated Press writers Paul Burkhardt and Ed Harris at the United Nations and Robert Burns and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear
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North Korean Nuke Tests Say Wo
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webmaster)
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Apart from bad mouthing Pakistan, a temptation no writer from India can ever resist, this is a balanced write up on the impact of nuclear tests by North Korea.(derhalmalkan@hotmail.com)
North Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must Return To Peace Agenda
Apart from bad mouthing Pakistan, a temptation no writer from India can ever resist, this is a balanced write up on the impact of nuclear tests by North Korea.
By Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (IPS) - North Korea has shocked the world by detonating a nuclear explosion and making good the threat it had held out six days earlier. Pyongyang's action is one more blow to the existing global non-proliferation order and will trigger greater instability in Northeast Asia and in the Asian continent and world as a whole.
Yet, the world would be profoundly mistaken to a make a knee-jerk response to the test by imposing sanctions on North Korea and reiterating the importance of nuclear non-proliferation, while ignoring the critical agenda of nuclear disarmament"¦. More
http://www.lisauk. com/Articles. asp?aid=205
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All oppressed people of the wo
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All oppressed people of the world are behind North Korea. After all big powers are using and black-mailing smaller nations because of their nuclear arsenals.(shaikh_hyder@yahoo.co.uk)
All oppressed people of the world are behind North Korea. After all big powers are using and black-mailing smaller nations because of their nuclear arsenals. After all look what happens to Iraqis after so-called liberation by the West (6,55,000 dead since March2003)
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Congratulations North Koreasc
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On behalf of Pakistan and Pakistanis I want to congratulate North Korea for successfully conducting its nuclear explosion. (geekpolitique@yahoo.co.uk)
On behalf of Pakistan and Pakistanis I want to congratulate North Korea for successfully conducting its nuclear explosion. It was fun seeing the dyslexic paedophile George Bush begging the "world" to retaliate instead of threatening direct retaliation from America.
The recent Korean test has also vindicated our patriotic scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's position that transfer of nuclear technology to DPRK was necessary in order to import missile components into Pakistan in the '90's when Pakistan had not only been abandoned but completely blockaded by its back-stabbing treacherous "allies" such as US and UK with the whore-in-office Benazir Bhutto helping in Pakistan's destruction ...
Contrary to the propaganda that the Zionist lobby has been spreading against Dr Khan , the transfer of technology was not for Dr Khan's personal gain but for due consideration of transfer of North Korean missiles to Pakistan which China was unable to provide Pakistan with directly being under pressure from Zionist and American bullying...
If Pakistan had not imported the vital Chinese missile parts to counter India's rapidly advancing missile threat in the 90's India would have by now taken Pakistan with the British and American politicians who nowadays keep referring to Pakistan as an "important ally" celebrating whilst India gobbled up Pakistan.
The disdain that is heaped upon Dr Khan and Pakistan by the incompetent psychopaths of the Bush administration and the murderous racists of the Blair government is only a form of self-delusion since the whole world knows that Pakistan cannot allow itself to be subjugated by India's missiles just because USA and UK want Pakistan to be.
The simple truth and therefore Dr A Q Khan's reputation are casualties in Pakistan's self-effacing and apologetic foreign policy as a client neo-colonial state infiltrated by American moles who fabricate stories of Dr Khan's corruption to disgrace and humiliate him on Zionist organs like BBC ---until a brave country like North Korea calls their bluff.
Not only has the North Korean test demonstrated the reliability and the consistency of Pakistani nuclear technology it has obviously caused a lot of impotent foaming and frothing from neo-colonial white-race swine who kill Muslims by the thousands every month which is good to see.
I am just hoping now that North Korea will now live up to its promise of delivering nuclear payloads deep into the American West soon with the help of Chinese ICBMs soon God-willing.
Long live Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Where does it say in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle or any Zionist bible that nuclear technology and depleted uranium are only for the use of Zionists and their slaves upon the civilians of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir and Chechnya?
Long live Proliferation.
Long live the yellow Chinese-Korean race which has shown Anglo-Saxon Zionist butchers what 45 Muslim countries in this world could not.
This is the time for Pakistan to stand with and to support North Korea and China and not to let our friends of tough times down especially as they supported us when the American and British were trying to finish off Pakistan in the '90's . This is not the time to back-stab our friend North Korea in the tradition of America and UK only to return to them after the US and UK's racist criminals have let us down again.
Congratulations North Korea and keep up the good work. I want to hear about a missile strike on Washington next ( and soon !) . At least it is better work than what a whole bunch of terrorists can do !
Amen.
Reply:
Nuclear Warheads: who is your
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Nuclear Warheads: who is your daddy
Reply:
The monsters (US) want "un-arm
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Let every country have a nuclear bomb. Then they will realize how dangerous it can be to start a war and may be, they would then become more responsible
satbir singh wrote: Let every country have a nuclear bomb. Then they will realize how dangerous it can be to start a war and may be, they would then become more responsible. For
example, I have listened to General Musharraf and he says that we should not talk of war with India because both India and Pakistan are nuclear countries.
I do not know how far General Musharraf is sincere but he has also said that he had seen so many wars and has seen his friends dying in his lap. So, he does not
want war.
Satbir Singh Bedi
Jimmy Jumshade wrote:The "cold-war" established that main purpose of Nuclear weapons is "Deterance, deterance & deterrance". North Korea was forced to develope Nuclear bombs & long-range delivery systems in response to the constant US threats of 'Invasion, war, occupation' of North Korea & due to the crazies in the White House going berserk with "Regime changes, pre-emptive wars, protracted bombing & sanctions of countries" if they do not obey demands of White House Junta.
It has also seen what has been done to Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia & Lebanon, quite legitimately.
The US asked for it. Secondly, North Korea poses no threat to Japan or China or any of it's neighbours, it is the US which has been blowing this crisis out of proportion because it cannot stand a victim capable of rsponding in kind & defending itself. The monsters want "un-armed victims".
Reply:
Much noise from the West for n
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Replied on (9/Oct/2006)
Now for many decades the North Korea has been asking the West for treatment par with Israel and Egypt.
N
ow for many decades the North Korea has been asking the West for treatment par with Israel and Egypt. Now after the explosion of nuclear bomb it is imperative for the International community to give about say one billion dollars a year in economic aid to North Korea and let it not be condemned for its nuclear bomb testing. For Israel with over 100 nuclear bombs and a threat to its neighbours receives huge largess of economic and military aid from US and Europe. So why not for North Korea a poor relation of the Asian community? See the following uncalled for article from Guardian, UK. ----- Although Beijing has so far opposed US and Japanese pressure for UN sanctions, it today promised to "resolutely oppose" its neighbour's conduct.
"China is angry. This action severely challenges the security of stability of east Asia as well as China's national interests," Shi Yinhong, a foreign affairs expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said.
"China must now deal with the call for sanction. If it endorses a UN resolution, then it will have a legal obligation to call off or reduce economic assistance."
South Korea - which has previously pursued a softly softly policy with its bellicose neighbour - warned that the test could mark the end of engagement efforts, which culminated with a landmark summit between Kim Jong-il and South Korea's then-president, Kim Dae-jung, in 2000.
"This is a warning as well as my prediction," the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, said after talks in Seoul with the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe. "Under this situation, it's difficult for South Korea to maintain an engagement policy."
Analysts said Mr Roh would come under pressure to drop the "sunshine policy" of engaging with the North.
"This represents a greater threshold than previous crises," the former foreign minister Han Seung-joo, who chairs the International Policy Studies Institute of South Korea, said.
"It will be very difficult for South Korea to continue with the policy it has pursued for the past eight years. I expect there will be a greater common front with the US and Japan."
In a flurry of diplomatic and political activity, countries in the region are now discussing punitive measures, which could include tighter economic sanctions, naval stop and search operations and the withholding of development aid.
After his talks in Seoul, Mr Abe talked of a "new, dangerous nuclear age", warning that Japan would consider "harsh measures" against Pyongyang.
The impact is likely to be felt most by North Korea's already impoverished population of 22 million. "The question now is what will happen inside North Korea," Edward Reed, of the Asia Foundation, said.
"Sanctions will mean a further reduction in st
Although Beijing has so far opposed US and Japanese pressure for UN sanctions, it today promised to "resolutely oppose" its neighbour's conduct.
"China is angry. This action severely challenges the security of stability of east Asia as well as China's national interests," Shi Yinhong, a foreign affairs expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said.
"China must now deal with the call for sanction. If it endorses a UN resolution, then it will have a legal obligation to call off or reduce economic assistance."
South Korea - which has previously pursued a softly softly policy with its bellicose neighbour - warned that the test could mark the end of engagement efforts, which culminated with a landmark summit between Kim Jong-il and South Korea's then-president, Kim Dae-jung, in 2000.
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Pakistan condemns Korea nuke t
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Pakistan has criticised North Korea's nuclear test, saying it was a "destabilising" development for the entire region.
Pakistan has criticised North Korea's nuclear test, saying it was a "destabilising" development for the entire region.
Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan admitted in 2004 that
he had passed on nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran.
India has also expressed deep concern about the test and said
it "jeopardises" peace and stability.
India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in 1998.
'Chain reaction'
"We had urged [North Korea] to desist from introducing nuclear
weapons in the Korean peninsula," Pakistani foreign office
spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
Pakistan did not initiate nuclear tests in the region. We were
acting purely in self-defence
Tasnim Aslam
Pakistan foreign office spokeswoman
Reaction to nuclear test
Full text: N Korea statement
"It is regrettable that [North Korea] chose to ignore the advice by
the international community not to conduct the test."
Ms Aslam has also defended Pakistan's own nuclear record.
"Pakistan did not initiate nuclear tests in the region. We were
acting purely in self-defence, " she said.
She said that unlike South Asia in 1998, "the Korean peninsula was a
nuclear-free zone," she said.
"It is going to have a chain reaction that nobody wants. We are
talking about it because of its ramifications on international peace
and security."
India said the "test also highlights the dangers of clandestine
proliferation" .
North Korea says the underground test was a success and had not
resulted in any leak of radiation.
The White House said South Korean and US intelligence had detected a
seismic event at a suspected test site.
'Provocative act'
The White House said, if confirmed, the test would be a "provocative
act", while China denounced it as "brazen".
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was "unpardonable" .
South Korea said it would "sternly respond".
Seoul also suspended a scheduled aid shipment to North Korea, the
state news agency reported.
The US Geological Survey said it had detected a 4.2 magnitude quake
in North Korea, while a South Korean official said a 3.5 magnitude
seismic tremor had been detected in north Hamgyong province, in the
north-east.
KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS
Sept 2005: At first hailed as a breakthrough, North Korea agrees to
give up nuclear activities
Next day, N Korea says it will not scrap its activities unless it
gets a civilian nuclear reactor
US imposes financial sanctions on N Korea businesses
July 2006: N Korea test-fires seven missiles
UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions over the tests
Oct 2006: N Korea threatens nuclear test
Q&A: Nuclear stand-off
N Korea nuclear timeline
South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting that the test took
place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT).
A top Russian military officer said it was "100%" certain that an
underground nuclear explosion had taken place.
When it announced the test, KCNA described it as an "historic event
that brought happiness to our military and people".
"The nuclear test will contribute to maintaining peace and stability
in the Korean peninsula and surrounding region," KCNA said.
The region has been on high alert since North Korea announced last
week that it would conduct a nuclear test