Bolton: U.N. 'Close To Agreement'

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said U.N. Security Council members are close to agreement on a resolution punishing North Korea for its claimed nuclear test and he expects a vote later Saturday.

"I expect we can go to a vote here imminently, perhaps within the hour," Bolton told reporters after a meeting with his Russian, Chinese, British, French and Japanese counterparts. "It's important for the council to respond just as swiftly as possible. I believe we are very close to the point where we can do that."

Despite winning key concessions, Russia and China had raised new objections that could delay any resolution imposing punishing sanctions on North Korea.

"Sometime between the printing of the final draft of the North Korea sanctions Resolution and the election of the new Secretary General, the unity of the Security Council dissolved," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N., "and by early evening Friday, the vote was delayed and the Council is back to China and Russia on one side and the U.S. and Japan on the other."

"The most contentious point — the cargo inspection provision — appeared to have raised eyebrows around the world," added Falk, "and now further negotiations will be needed to craft a Resolution which all veto-wielding countries will support."

In an effort by the U.S. and its allies to compromise, the latest draft expressly rules out military action against North Korea, a demand by the Russians and Chinese. The Americans also eliminated a complete ban on the sale of conventional weapons; instead, the draft limits the embargo to major hardware such as tanks, warships, combat aircraft and missiles.

But the resolution would still ban the import or export of material and equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles, and would authorize all countries to inspect cargo leaving and arriving in North Korea to prevent any illegal trafficking.

The accord came as U.S. officials said Friday that an air sampling taken after North Korea's claimed nuclear test detected radioactive debris consistent with an atomic explosion. However, the Bush administration and congressional officials said no final determination had been made about the nature of last weekend's mystery-shrouded blast.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Results from another test disclosed Friday — an initial air sampling on Tuesday — showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a U.S. government intelligence official said.

Japan's latest survey of radiation levels in the air around the country showed no unusual results after North Korea's claimed nuclear test as of Saturday morning, said Hiroshi Tsuboi, an official with the Japanese government's radiation task force.

If North Korea did conduct a nuclear test, there could be any number of reasons for negative tests. For example, it could be that the device — detonated under a mountain — simply didn't vent radiological material in an appreciable, detectable way.

"A lot of it is calculation — how deep you need to go," said John Pike, director of the Washington-based think tank Globalsecurity.org. "There is some degree of imprecision involved. Some of these things emit more radioactive gas than others."

Meanwhile, North Korean ships loaded their final cargo of secondhand bicycles and household appliances in the Japanese port city of Sakaiminato after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet agreed to ban trade with the communist state. The unilateral Japanese sanctions also include a six-month ban on travel to Japan by all North Korean government officials.

The U.S. and other nations trying to persuade the North to give up its atomic program continued a flurry of high-level diplomatic visits. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned a trip next week to Asia; Russia sent an envoy to Pyongyang; and the presidents of China and South Korea — the North's main sources of trade and aid — met in Beijing to discuss the proposed resolution.

The U.S.-sponsored draft would declare that Monday's test claimed by North Korea had increased tension in northeast Asia, creating "a clear threat to international peace and security." It would condemn the claimed test in "flagrant disregard" of the council's appeal not to detonate a nuclear device, demand that North Korea not conduct any further test or launch any more ballistic missiles, and authorize a range of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

The draft would also freeze the financial assets of — and impose a travel ban on — individuals and entities with any connection to North Korea's weapons or missile programs. It would also ban countries from selling luxury goods to North Korea.

Asked why, Bolton said, "I think the North Korean population has been losing average height and weight over the years and maybe this will be a little diet for Kim Jong Il," North Korea's leader.

The latest draft resolution still invokes Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which the U.S. views as a necessary enforcement tool because it makes economic and diplomatic sanctions mandatory.

China and Russia normally object to the Chapter 7 provision because it carries the possibility of military enforcement. The Bush administration used the same provision to justify its invasion of Iraq, and Moscow and Beijing worry the U.S. might do the same eventually with North Korea — even though President Bush has said the U.S. has no plans to attack.

But in a compromise also used in July to reach a unanimous vote on a resolution condemning North Korean missile launches, the text added mention of Article 41 of the chapter, which permits only "means not involving the use of military force."

In another key change to gain Chinese and Russian support, the resolution now says the inspection process — which covers shipments by land, air and sea — will be "cooperative" with local authorities. Both China and Russia share borders with North Korea and are uncomfortable with the possibility of the U.S. interdicting ships near their coasts. At any rate, Bolton said he expected most actions would be performed at ports.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who has been a key figure in dealings with North Korea, told reporters soon after the General Assembly voted by acclamation to appoint him the next U.N. secretary-general that he hopes the Security Council will be able to adopt the resolution Saturday and send "a very strong and clear message" to Pyongyang.

The resolution would rely on all countries to implement the sanctions, but it would create a sanctions committee comprising all 15 Security Council nations to monitor implementation and report any violations to the council for possible further action.

Rice's trip to China, South Korea and Japan is the next step in the U.S. diplomatic offensive at the United Nations and with Pyongyang's neighbors. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said "she's going to be talking about the passage of that resolution certainly, but really what comes after."

The trip is meant to present a unified front to North Korea, which will be looking for any cracks in the diplomatic coalition behind the U.N. statement. Coming less than a month before midterm congressional elections, Rice's trip is also an opportunity for the Bush administration to highlight its work countering dangerous regimes and terror threats.