Security Council Backs N. Korea Sanctions

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on North Korea including ship searches for banned weapons, calling Pyongyang's claimed nuclear test "a clear threat to international peace and security." North Korea walked out, rejecting the resolution and accusing the council of "gangster-like" action.

The U.S.-sponsored resolution approved Saturday demands that the reclusive communist nation abandon its nuclear weapons program, and orders all countries to prevent North Korea from importing or exporting any material for weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles. It also orders nations to freeze assets of people or businesses connected to these programs, and ban the individuals from traveling.

"In record time, the U.N. Security Council was able to bridge serious differences and produced a tough sanctions Resolution, sending a united message to North Korea to stop its weapons development and return to the bargaining table," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

The resolution calls on all countries to inspect cargo leaving and arriving in North Korea to prevent any illegal trafficking in unconventional weapons or ballistic missiles. The final draft was softened from stronger language authorizing searches, but was still unacceptable to China — the North's closest ally — which said it would not carry out any inspections.

"Intense negotiations, beginning last Sunday with North Korea's weapons test, produced a unanimous vote on a Resolution that reassured the Chinese and the Russians that there would be no military force used without a return to the Security Council," Falk said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said North Korea's proclaimed test "poses one of the gravest threats to international peace and security that this council has ever had to confront."

"Today, we are sending a strong and clear message to North Korea and other would-be proliferators that there will be serious repercussions in continuing to pursue weapons of mass destruction," he said, in what appeared to be a clear warning to Iran, whose nuclear ambitions come before the Security Council again next week.

North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon countered by blaming the United States for the reported test, saying America's "threat, sanctions and pressure" had forced North Korea to "prove its possession of nukes to protect its sovereignty and right to existence from the daily increasing danger of war from the United States."

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is ready for talks, dialogue and confrontation," he said. "If the United States increases pressure upon the Democratic People's Republic of Korea persistently, the DPRK will continue to take physical countermeasures considering it as a declaration of war."

North Korea has made similar threats in the past, and also has said it might conduct a second nuclear test in response to U.N. sanctions.

The resolution imposed sanctions for the North's "flagrant disregard" of the council's appeal not to detonate a nuclear device and demanded that North Korea "not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile."

The vote came after the United States, Britain and France overcame last-minute differences with Russia and China during what the Russian ambassador called "tense negotiations."

"At the last minute, the vote was delayed in order to adjust the Resolution to reflect the voluntary nature of the cargo inspection provision," according to Falk.

The resolution expressly rules out military action against North Korea, a demand by the Russians and Chinese. Bolton warned Pyongyang, however, that if it continues pursuing nuclear weapons, the United States would seek further measures.

The Security Council condemned the nuclear test that North Korea said it conducted on Oct 9. It demanded that North Korea immediately return to six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to dismantle its weapons program without precondition.

"This action by the United Nations, which was swift and tough, says that we are united in our determination to see to it that the Korean Peninsula is nuclear-weapons free," President Bush said.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who was chosen on Friday to become the next U.N. secretary-general, said in an AP interview that the council's "very strong resolution ... sends a very strong, clear and unified message to North Korea."

"I hope that North Korea will comply with this resolution," he said. "I hope that all member states of the United Nations will fully implement this resolution."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan was considering additional sanctions against North Korea in line with the resolution, following its move Friday to ban trade with the North and close its ports to North Korean ships.

"We were able to send a strong message that the international community will not tolerate North Korea's owning nuclear weapons," Abe told reporters Sunday.

In a measure aimed at North Korea's tiny elite, the resolution also bans the sale of luxury goods to the country. The North's reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il, is known for his love of cognac and lobster and collection of thousands of bottles of vintage French wine.

To meet Russian and Chinese concerns, the Americans eliminated a complete ban on the sale of conventional weapons. Instead, the resolution limits the embargo to major hardware such as tanks, warships, combat aircraft and missiles.

The council's go-ahead for the inspection of cargo gave broader global scope to the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative launched in 2003, which urges countries to stop banned weapons from suspect countries including North Korea and Iran.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said Beijing allowed the cargo provision to be included in what he called a "watered-down" resolution even though the government is opposed to it.

"China strongly urges the countries concerned to adopt a prudent and responsible attitude in this regard and refrain from taking any provocative steps that may intensify the tensions," he said.

Wang told reporters that he did not consider the North Korean ambassador's response the official reply from Pyongyang, which he awaits.

"The important thing is not what they say here," Wang said.

The overriding issue, he said, is "how we work together for peace and security in the region."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow got what it wanted — a strong resolution but one that is also aimed at "prevention of a further escalation of tension."

North Korea's Pak told the Security Council that the nuclear test was not inconsistent with the country's goal of a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

"The DPRK clarified more than once that it would feel no need to possess even a single nuke when it is no longer exposed to the United States' threat, after it has dropped its hostile policy to the DPRK and confidence has been built between the two countries," he said.

Following Pak's speech, Bolton took the floor again saying "I'm not going to waste any of our time responding." But he noted that North Korea had done Saturday exactly what it did in July after the council adopted limited sanctions for its ballistic missile tests — immediately reject the resolution and walk out.

"It is the contemporary equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the desk," Bolton said, referring to the Soviet leader's legendary act of protest at the U.N. General Assembly in 1960.

Bolton told reporters afterward that the next step is to start work on implementing the resolution and putting together lists of material and equipment subject to sanctions.

"Hopefully on saner reflections perhaps they'll begin to accept that if they don't change course, the only future for them is continued isolation," he said.

On Friday, U.S. officials said an air sampling 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 Monday's mystery-shrouded blast.

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, including a trip to Asia by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meant to present a unified front to North Korea.

Pyongyang has boycotted the six-nation talks for the past 13 months to protest financial measures imposed by Washington for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

The six parties to the talks are the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia.