UNSC adopts resolution on DPRK missile launches
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-16 08:57
The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved a resolution on the
missile tests of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), calling for
the early resumption of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue.
After days of wrangling over the language of the resolution, the
council members finally reached agreement to remove any reference to the Chapter
7 of the UN Charter which authorizes sanctions or even military
action.
The resolution strongly urges the DPRK to return immediately to
the six-party talks without precondition, abandon all nuclear-related weapons
and programs and return to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
It requires all UN
members to prevent missiles and missile-related items, materials, goods and
technology from being transferred to DPRK.
The resolution demands that
the DPRK suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program, and in
this context re-establish its preexisting commitments to a moratorium on missile
launching.
Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya told the council that China is
ready to make joint efforts with all the parties concerned to maintain peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula.
"The Chinese side is ready to make
joint efforts with all the parties concerned to overcome difficulties, create
conditions, promote the six-party talks, and jointly maintain peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asia," he
said.
Wang stressed that China has adopted a responsible attitude and
firmly opposed to forcing through a vote on a draft resolution that is not
conducive to unity and will further complicate and aggravate the situation,
cause grave consequences for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and
create enormous obstacles for the six-party talks and other important diplomatic
endeavors.
The DPRK's UN Ambassador Pak Gil Yon told reporters after the
council meeting that his country "totally rejects" the resolution adopted by the
UN Security Council.
The DPRK "remains unchanged in its will to
denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in a negotiated peaceful manner just as it
committed itself in the September 19 joint statement of the six-party talks,"
Pak told the council.
The Russian envoy to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said
the resolution "sends an appropriate signal to the DPRK to display restraint and
abide by its obligations regarding missiles."
Churkin called on the DPRK
"to work in favor of continuing the negotiating process in the interest of
strengthening the security and stability of the region."
U.S. Ambassador
John Bolton said the United States looked forward to the DPRK's full,
unconditional and immediate compliance with the resolution.
"It sends an
unequivocal, unambiguous and unanimous message to Pyongyang: suspend your
ballistic missile program; stop your procurement of materials related to weapons
of mass destruction, and implement your September, 2005 commitment to verifiably
dismantle your nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs," he told the
council.
The 15-member council had tried for days to decide how to react
to the missile launches by the DPRK on July 5, which raised concerns of the
international community.
Japan and the United States had earlier pushed
for a resolution with a clear reference to Chapter 7. But China and Russia
opposed any mention of Chapter 7 in that it could be used to justify possible
future military action.
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