Qatar- UN Security Council Vows New Sanctions against North Korea

2/8/2016 7:24:38 AM

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) New York February 08 (QNA) - The UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket vowing to adopt a new sanctions resolution in response.
After an urgent closed-door meeting in New York the Security Council said the launch was "a serious violation" of UN resolutions.
Japan's envoy to the UN Motohide Yoshikawa said existing sanctions "have not stopped North Korea from developing nuclear weapons" and must be tightened.
US ambassador Samantha Power said the UN would "come up with something tough" saying: "There can be no business as usual." She said the UN hoped China North Korea's ally would "see the grave threat to regional and international peace and security see the importance of adopting tough unprecedented measures breaking new ground here exceeding the expectations of Kim Jong-un".
But Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi took a less stern line saying any resolution should "do the work of reducing tension of working toward denuclearisation of maintaining peace and stability and of encouraging a negotiated solution".
North Korea's other main ally Russia also called for "a reasonable resolution" that would not lead to economic collapse in North Korea or increased tensions.
Its UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia ultimately wanted the resumption of the six-party talks on Korean denuclearisation though he admitted that was unlikely as the North Koreans "have been very unreasonable".
Pyongyang said it fired the rocket to place a satellite in orbit but critics believe the real purpose was to test ballistic missile technology.
Sunday's launch came weeks after North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test. Both acts violate existing sanctions.
Amid the tension a North Korean patrol boat briefly crossed into South Korean territory near the island of Socheong early on Monday morning according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.
The ministry said that it retreated back across the border - a boundary line Pyongyang disputes - shortly after South Korean forces fired warning shots into the water around it. (QNA)

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