UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The UN Security Council yesterday unanimously condemned North Korea’s December rocket launch and expanded existing UN sanctions, eliciting a vow from Pyongyang to boost the North’s military and nuclear capabilities.
Even though the resolution approved by the 15-nation council does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang, diplomats said Beijing’s support for it was a significant diplomatic blow to Pyongyang.
The resolution said the council “deplores the violations” by North Korea of its previous resolutions, which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests and from importing materials and technology for these programs.
It also said the council “expresses its determination to take significant action in the event of a further DPRK (North Korean) launch or nuclear test.”
North Korea reacted quickly, saying it would hold no more talks on the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula and would boost its military and nuclear capabilities.
“We will take measures to boost and strengthen our defensive military power including nuclear deterrence,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
Six-party talks aimed at halting North Korea’s nuclear program have involved North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. They have been held intermittently since 2003 but have stalled since 2008.
South Korea says the North is technically ready for a third nuclear test, and satellite images show it is actively working on its nuclear site.
The U.N. resolution added six North Korean entities, including Pyongyang’s space agency, the Korean Committee for Space Techno-logy, and the man heading it, Paek Chang-ho, to an already existing UN blacklist.
