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UN may be close to deal on N.Korea resolution
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-15 13:38 SANCTIONS REMAIN
The latest text circulated by Japan
and its supporters condemns the missile launches and demands that North Korea
suspend "all activities" on its ballistic missiles.
It includes sanctions
by requiring that all U.N. member states prevent any imports to or exports from
North Korea of missiles and missile-related items and materials that could be
used in weapons of mass destruction.
The new language from Britain and
France would highlight the council's "special responsibility for the maintenance
of international peace and security," according to one diplomat who spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the secret negotiations.
A Chapter 7
resolution is used to make the document legally binding but some council members
now contend that all Security Council resolutions are mandatory.
Saying
that Russia and China had come a long way in agreeing to a tough resolution,
Bolton told reporters that a "resolution can be legally binding without using
... the magic word Abracadabra," such as Chapter 7.
Meanwhile, North
Korea recalled all its top envoys from foreign countries for a meeting next
week, the first time it has done this in five years, the South Korean JoongAng
Ilbo newspaper reported on Saturday.
The U.N. resolution was delayed in
part because of a high-level Chinese delegation in Pyongyang, which just
returned but so far has not reported any positive results.
South Korean
Vice Foreign Minister Lee Kyu-hyung was due to arrive in Beijing on Saturday for
talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who was in Pyongyang on the
mission led by Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.
Seoul's diplomatic moves came
after Pyongyang stormed out of cabinet-level talks with the South on Thursday.
Japan has come under harsh criticism from China and South Korea for its
stern stance on the missile crisis.
Tokyo's ties with both countries are
bedeviled by bitter memories of Japanese wartime aggression, while Sino-Japanese
relations are also strained by rivalry for regional dominance.
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