"UN council condemns North Korea's nuclear testing; Threatens new sanctions for violation" by Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press | May 26, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - The Security Council yesterday swiftly condemned North Korea's nuclear test as "a clear violation" of a 2006 resolution and said it will start work immediately on another one that could result in new sanctions against the reclusive nation.
Hours after North Korea defiantly conducted its second test, its closest allies China and Russia joined Western powers and representatives from the rest of the world on the council to voice strong opposition to the underground explosion. The council demanded ship searches for banned weapons....
I'm waiting for them to start inspecting ships into Israel.
In an interview in Copenhagen, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon deplored the test as a "grave violation" of council resolutions and called on the council in a statement to send "a strong and unified message" aimed at achieving the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and peace and security in the region. Ban urged the North "to refrain from taking any actions which will deteriorate the situation."
Leaders in the United States, European Union, and Russia also offered quick and pointed criticism....
"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," President Obama said in a statement. "North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia."
In Brussels, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, denounced the test as a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, made clear in a statement that the council's condemnation was only an initial response, and that more will follow....
"The members of the Security Council have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter," he said. US Ambassador Susan Rice said the 15-member council agreed that work on the new resolution will begin Tuesday. France's deputy UN ambassador Jean-Pierre Lacroix said France wants the new resolution to "include new sanctions . . . because this behavior must have a cost and a price to pay."
So why does Israel get away with it, 'eh?
Russia viewed the nuclear test as.... "This is a very rare occurrence as you know, and it goes contrary not only to resolutions of the Security Council but also the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty and the [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty," he replied. "We are one of the founding fathers - Russia is - of those documents, so we think they're extremely important in current international relations. So anything which would undermine the regimes of those two treaties is very serious and needs to have a strong response."
That's not a good sign for Israel!
--more--"
Here is a reason the U.N. may be bogged down:
"A defiant North Korea test-fires more missiles; UN officials discuss ways to rein in regime" by Jack Kim, Reuters | May 27, 2009
SEOUL - UN diplomats said it was clear that China, a veto-wielding permanent council member, opposed new penalties but might accept demands for tougher enforcement, and possibly an expansion, of existing sanctions. So far only the French delegation has publicly called for new UN sanctions.
For China, an immediate concern is a possible breakdown of order inside the ostracized state, which could send a flood of North Korean refugees across its border.
--more--"Yeah, if Korea were Mexico I'm sure we would have second thoughts!
""A defiant North Korea test-fires more missiles; UN officials discuss ways to rein in regime" by Jack Kim, Reuters | May 27, 2009
SEOUL - South Korea said it would join a US-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, something Pyongyang has warned it would consider a declaration of war....
Would we stand for such things, Amurkn? Then why should the Korean?
The nuclear test raised concern about North Korea spreading its weapons to other countries and groups. The United States has accused it of trying to sell nuclear know-how to Syria and others.
Yeah, except: Israel Planted Soil Samples Against Syria
"Another risk is that the North Koreans might peddle some plutonium, or peddle some technology to terrorist groups, that would also be very, very serious," Hans Blix, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC.
Why would they do that when they know it could easily be traced back to themselves?
Obama assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of Washington's unequivocal commitment to defend the divided peninsula, where 2 million troops face off....
War is closer than you think.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said North Korea would "pay a price" if it did not reverse its course but said the door was still open for it to resume long-running six-party talks meant to draw the reclusive state out of its isolation.
I am ALWAYS for TALKING over FIGHTING!!!!
A US Treasury Department official said on condition of anonymity that Washington was "reviewing our options" for further financial sanctions.
How much more can they take, and would it matter?
There is little more Washington can do to deter the North, which has been punished for years by international sanctions and is so poor that it relies on aid to feed its 23 million people.
Gee, I think they are ALREADY SUFFERING!
Here is an IDEA: Instead of the THREATS, send them some FOOD!!!!!
Btw, how can such an EMACIATED POPULATION of a country SO SMALL really be a threat?
The nuke? When he knows we will wipe him off the face of the planet if he even dares fire it?
And what bothers me is North Korea told the truth about the missile launch.
The U.S. didn't.
And you think the Koreans are just going to sit back and take it 9like the U.S. public does)?
"North Korea warns of strikes on US shipping; Says search for weapons violates truce" by Jean H. Lee, Associated Press | May 28, 2009
SEOUL - The UN Security Council was debating how to punish the North for its nuclear test Monday, what President Obama called a "blatant violation" of international law.
Ambassadors from the five permanent veto-wielding council members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France - as well as Japan and South Korea were working on a new resolution....
That was over a week ago!
--more--"
BEIJING - US officials say they sense a different tone in China's response this time. But China has not yet made clear what position it will take in the UN Security Council, where closed-door negotiations are underway on a possible resolution against North Korea....
Now it is a 'possible" resolution?
Wang Fan, an international security specialist at China Foreign Affairs University, told the official China Daily that at this point China "cannot oppose" possible UN sanctions against North Korea....
Then what is taking so long, and why are they now only "possible?"
Some analysts contend, however, that China's tough talk is probably a scare tactic and that it is unlikely China ultimately will support tough UN sanctions.
So that guy's "analysis" was a big pile of horse dung? Like all MSM "experts."
They say the Chinese-North Korean relationship is deeply entrenched because of personal ties between leaders, China's desire to protect an old ally, and fears of what could happen if the North Korean government fell. A collapse could bring a flood of refugees and alter the balance of power in the region if the new government allied itself to South Korea or the United States.
A-ha! The CHINESE are WISE TO US!!!!!
Liu Jiangyong, a professor of Northeast Asia studies at Tsinghua University, predicts no real change in China's policy.
Sounds like the Obama administration here!
If China joins other nations in coming down harshly on North Korea, he said, "the role of China will be changed from a contact man to the enemy of North Korea."
--more--"
Hey, I don't care as long as WAR is AVOIDED!
"US officials: North Korea may launch new missiles" by Eric Talmadge and Anne Gearan, Associated Press Writers | May 29, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea -- The draft of a U.N. resolution being negotiated in response to the North's second nuclear test calls on all countries to immediately enforce sanctions imposed after the North's first test in 2006.
They include a partial arms embargo, a ban on luxury goods, and ship searches for illegal weapons or material. The sanctions have been sporadically implemented, with many of the 192 U.N. member states ignoring them.
Like with Israel?
The partial draft, obtained Friday by The Associated Press after it first appeared on the Inner City Press Web site, would have the council condemn the North's May 25 nuclear test "in the strongest terms.... "
Well, it has been 11 DAYS since that report, and.....
"Clinton says North Korea could return to terror list" by Washington Post | June 8, 2009
WASHINGTON - The administration is also pushing for a UN Security Council resolution that would punish the country financially and give the international community the power to interdict suspect North Korean cargo, but Clinton acknowledged that some countries have "legitimate concerns" about targeting international shipments.
"We will do everything we can to both interdict it and prevent it and shut off their flow of money," Clinton said. "If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we'll spark an arms race in Northeast Asia. I don't think anybody wants to see that. And so part of what we're doing is again sharing with other countries our calculus of the risks and the dangers that would lie ahead if we don't take very strong action."
Newt Gingrich, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," welcomed Clinton's statement....
Yeah, choke that one down, DemocraPS!
