U.N. Plans New Resolution On N. Korea

The U.N. Security Council swiftly condemned North Korea's nuclear test on Monday as "a clear violation" of a 2006 resolution banning them and said it will start work immediately on a new one that could result in stronger measures 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.

After a brief emergency meeting held at Japan's request, the council demanded that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things called for Pyongyang to return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program. It also called on all other U.N. member states to abide by sanctions imposed on the North.

"The U.N. Security Council, in record time relative to earlier North Korea resolutions, voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test conducted by North Korea and vowed to issue a full resolution in the days to come," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, reporting from the United Nations. "And the fact that the Russian Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said he was authorized by the members of the Security Council to read it means that China and Russia are on board to demand that North Korea comply with its obligations under the earlier U.N. resolutions."

Churkin, the current council president, made clear in a statement that the condemnation was only an initial response, and that more will follow. He said it was too early to give any specifics.

"The members of the Security Council have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter," he said.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the 15-member council agreed that work on the new resolution will begin Tuesday.

"What we heard today was swift, clear, unequivocal condemnation and opposition to what occurred," she said. "The United States thinks that this is a grave violation of international law and a threat to regional and international peace and security and therefore the United States will seek a strong resolution with strong measures."

Churkin was asked whether Russia viewed the nuclear test as more serious than North Korea's missile launch in April, which also led to Security Council condemnation and sanctions against three North Korean companies.

"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."

The five permanent veto-wielding members of the council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - met behind closed doors for over an hour with the ambassadors of Japan and South Korea ahead of the closed meeting of the full 15-member council.

Japan said North Korea's "irresponsible" nuclear test and the April missile launch had challenged the authority of the U.N.'s most powerful body "and the response must be firm."

"It's a very clear challenge," said Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu, a non-permanent council member. "So therefore we need a really, really clear and firm message from this - preferably a resolution."

The nuclear device was triggered just before 10 a.m. local time at a facility about 235 miles northeast of Pyongyang registered as a 4.7 magnitude seismic event, reports CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen.

Soon afterward, North Korea staged a series of short-range missile launches.

The actions drew swift condemnation from around the world ahead of the U.N. Security Council meeting.

South Korea called it a "provocative action which will never be tolerated."

China, which at times in the past had been reluctant to strongly condemn its Communist ally and neighbor, expressed "absolute opposition toward this," according to a statement broadcast on government television.

Officials in China may well see this as a setback in their efforts to negotiate an end to the North's nuclear program. Those negotiations are currently stalled. And the North's attitude, if today's tests are any indication, seems to be "Forget any new talks any time soon," Petersen reports.

On April 5, the North test-fired a long-range ballistic missile. It crossed over Japan and fell harmlessly into the ocean. But to some, it is proof that the North has no intention of giving up its program because its goal is facing down the U.S.

"When North Koreans successfully own ICBMs, they will no longer have to be subservient to the United States at the negotiating table," Yukio Okamoto, a former special advisor to the Japanese prime minister told Petersen.

President Obama said Monday that North Korea's latest nuclear weapons and missile tests, "pose a grave threat".

"I strongly condemned the communist regime's reckless actions," Mr. Obama said in the White House Rose Garden. He added that North Korea would not find security or respect through threats and the pursuit of banned weapons. The president did not take questions.

In a statement earlier Monday morning Mr. Obama said the nuclear test should be "a matter of grave concern to all nations" and accused Pyongyang of behaving recklessly and defying international will.

Mr. Obama also said in the statement that the United States "will continue working with our allies and partners" in multilateral talks and will hold consultations with members of the U.N. Security Council on it and a subsequent series of test-firings of short-range ground-to-air missiles.