US may distribute draft UNSC resolution against N. Korea soon

September 5, 2017

NEW YORK- The United States is considering distributing a draft of a new UN Security Council resolution imposing tougher sanctions on North Korea over its sixth nuclear test to the member states of the powerful UN organ on Tuesday at the earliest.

At an emergency Security Council meeting held on Monday in response to Pyongyang's latest provocation, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stressed the need to impose "the strongest possible measures" on Pyongyang.

Haley indicated that the United States aims to hold negotiations on the draft resolution this week and put it to a vote on Sept. 11. Japan, South Korea, Britain and France showed support for stepped-up sanctions on North Korea.

But it is unclear if things will go smoothly, depending on the attitudes of China and Russia, two of the five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members. The two countries, which have close ties with North Korea, called for a solution through dialogue.

The emergency meeting was held at the request of Japan, the United States, South Korea, Britain and France, following the nuclear test on Sunday. North Korea claimed that it has successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded into an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The adoptions of past Security Council resolutions against North Korea took more than a month after each provocative act by the country. It would be very unusual if the envisioned resolution is passed only about a week after the nuclear test.

The United States is speeding up its efforts for the early adoption of the new resolution apparently because it is strongly concerned about the rapid pace of North Korea's development of its nuclear missile capabilities, sources familiar with the situation said.

Noting that the Security Council's past eight resolutions against North Korea did not work, Haley told the emergency Security Council meeting that "we must now adopt the strongest possible measures" against the country.

"The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means before it's too late," Haley said. She added: "The time has come to exhaust all diplomatic means to end this crisis, and that means quickly enacting the strongest possible measures here in the UN Security Council. Only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy."

Koro Bessho, Japan's ambassador to the United Nations, said that the international society must apply the maximum pressure on North Korea to make the country change its stance. Jiji Press