UN to convene Security Council over N. Korea rocket launch
A North Korean soldier stands guard in front a rocket launch pad, northwest of Pyongyang April 8, 2012. — Reuters picNEW YORK, April 13 — The UN Security Council will meet today to discuss a possible condemnation of North Korea’s rocket launch, UN diplomats said yesterday.
They said the council hopes to unanimously agree to a statement condemning what several diplomats said was a violation of a UN ban on the use of ballistic missile technology by North Korea. The ban is part of Security Council sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.
Although the 1400 GMT meeting of the 15-nation council was not previously scheduled, several diplomats said it would not be billed as an emergency meeting.
Earlier this week US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the 15-nation council should “respond credibly” to a North Korean missile launch. Western diplomats say that the most China, a permanent veto-wielding council member and North Korea’s protector, would accept is a rebuke of Pyongyang.
New sanctions, they said on condition of anonymity, are out of the question.
US officials described the rocket launch as a failure. — Reuters
