Text 23856, 171 rader
Skriven 2006-10-14 19:11:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Korea
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I expect the liberals and John F Kerry to be especially excited over 
this, since they believe the UN is the answer to foreign policy...  I 
expect them to applaud George Bush for going to the UN.  I also expect 
that this should solve the North Korea problem, that they will not seek 
to develop any more nuclear weapons because the UN has told them not to.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061014/D8KOKBQ01.html

U.N. Adopts Resolution Against N. Korea
 
 
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Oct 14, 4:17 PM (ET)

By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on 
Saturday to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for carrying out a 
nuclear test, declaring that its action posed "a clear threat to 
international peace and security."

North Korea immediately rejected the resolution, and its U.N. ambassador 
walked out of the council chamber after accusing its members of a 
"gangster-like" action which neglects the nuclear threat posed by the 
United States.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is ready for talks, dialogue 
and confrontation," Ambassador Pak Gil Yon said. "If the United States 
increases pressure upon the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 
persistently, the DPRK will continue to take physical countermeasures 
considering it as a declaration of war."

The vote came after the United States, Britain and France overcame last-
minute differences with Russia and China during what the Russian 
ambassador called "tense negotiations."


The resolution demands North Korea eliminate all its nuclear weapons but 
expressly rules out military action against the country, a demand by the 
Russians and Chinese. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton warned Pyongyang, 
however, that if it continues pursuing nuclear weapons, the United 
States would seek further measures.

The Security Council condemned the nuclear test that North Korea said it 
conducted on Oct 9. It demanded that North Korea immediately return to 
six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to dismantle its weapons 
program without precondition.

It imposed sanctions for the North's "flagrant disregard" of the 
council's appeal not to detonate a nuclear device and demanded that 
North Korea "not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a 
ballistic missile."

The resolution bans the import or export of material and equipment that 
could be used to make nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. It orders 
all countries to freeze the assets and ban travel for anyone engaged in 
supporting North Korea's 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 Korean 
Peninsula is nuclear-weapons free," President Bush said.


In a measure aimed at North Korea's tiny elite, the resolution bans the 
sale of luxury goods to the country.

To meet Russian and Chinese concerns, the Americans eliminated a 
complete ban on the sale of conventional weapons. Instead, the 
resolution limits the embargo to major hardware such as tanks, warships, 
combat aircraft and missiles.

The resolution calls on all countries to inspect cargo leaving and 
arriving in North Korea to prevent any illegal trafficking in 
unconventional weapons or ballistic missiles. The final draft was 
softened from language saying the council "decides" - which is a 
stronger authorization.

But China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said after the vote that this 
provision allowing the boarding of ships to inspect cargo was still 
unacceptable to Beijing and it would not carry out inspections.

Nonetheless, Wang hailed what he called a "watered-down" resolution.

 
He told reporters that he did not consider the North Korean ambassador's 
response the official reply from Pyongyang, which he awaits.

"The important thing is not what they say here," Wang said.

The overriding issue, he said, is "how we work together for peace and 
security in the region."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow got what it wanted - 
a strong resolution but one that is also aimed at "prevention of a 
further escalation of tension."

North Korea's Pak told the Security Council that the nuclear test was 
not inconsistent with the country's goal of a denuclearized Korean 
peninsula.

"The DPRK clarified more than once that it would feel no need to possess 
even a single nuke when it is no longer exposed to the United States' 
threat, after it has dropped its hostile policy to the DPRK and 
confidence has been built between the two countries," he said.

Bolton said North Korea's claimed test "unquestionably poses one of the 
gravest threats to international peace and security that this council 
has ever had to confront."

Following Pak's speech, Bolton took the floor again saying "I'm not 
going to waste any our time responding." But he noted that North Korea 
had done Saturday exactly what it did in July after the council adopted 
limited sanctions for its ballistic missile tests - immediately reject 
the resolution and walk out.

"It is the contemporary equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev pounding his 
shoe on the desk," Bolton said, referring to the Soviet leader's 
legendary act of protest at the U.N. General Assembly in 1960.

Bolton told reporters afterward that the next step is to start work on 
implementing the resolution.

"Hopefully on saner reflections perhaps they'll begin to accept that if 
they don't change course, the only future for them is continued 
isolation," he said.

On Friday, U.S. officials said 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 U.S. and other nations trying to persuade the North to give up its 
atomic program continued a flurry of high-level diplomatic visits, 
including a trip to Asia by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meant to 
present a unified front to North Korea.

The resolution 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 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."

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 
did not say how Kim responded.

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.

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Associated Press writers Ed Harris at the United Nations and Robert 
Burns and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.

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