The UN Security Council (UNSC) 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."
US 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.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2006)
