Political Economist

October 14, 2006

U.S. Hits Obstacle in Getting a Vote on North Korea

By WARREN HOGE from New York Times

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 — The United States pressed for a Saturday vote on a Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on North Korea for its reported nuclear test, but questions from China and Russia on Friday evening cast the timing and possibly the content of the document into doubt.

The terms of the resolution had already been softened three times this week to meet objections from China and Russia, and earlier Friday there appeared to be agreement on holding a vote Saturday morning.

John R. Bolton, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said the new problems appeared “technical” rather than “substantial,” but said they would require another conference of Japan and the five permanent Council members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, Saturday before the full 15-member panel met later in the day.

While the wording of the resolution was still being worked out, American intelligence officials said on Friday evening that they had found radioactive material in air samples taken over the region, providing more evidence that North Korea did indeed detonate a nuclear bomb.

The new draft resolution dropped or softened several provisions to placate China and Russia. It eliminated explicit mention of military enforcement of the sanctions; placed more limits on the kinds of cargo that could be inspected going in and out of North Korea; and dropped a blanket embargo on conventional weapons.

Mr. Bolton indicated that one area of dispute remained the methods and legalities of how to inspect cargo. The new draft resolution limits the weapons ban to large-size arms, military systems and unconventional weapons.

The measure, drafted by the United States, still requires all countries to prevent the sale or transfer of material related to North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile and unconventional weapons programs, and maintains a ban on travel by persons associated with those programs.

It also bars North Korea from exporting such weapons, a provision aimed at the international concern over the possibility of unconventional arms from North Korea ending up with terrorist groups or rogue states.

Kenzo Oshima, the Japanese ambassador to the United Nations and president of the Security Council, announced the Council would gather at noon, but could not say whether there would be a vote.

“An overwhelming majority of the Council members want to vote as soon as possible,” Mr. Bolton said. “They still think it is important to send a swift and strong signal, and I’m confident we’re going to be able to do that.”

Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador, said, “It all depends on the final text, because we are not at the final text yet.”

The United States and Japan, the driving forces behind the resolution, had earlier thought they had surmounted the Chinese and Russian objections to the resolution when they submitted a revision Thursday night that softened some of the earlier provisions.

Mr. Bolton said the United States was “very satisfied” with the document as it stood Friday morning and was prepared to vote for it immediately.

But Mr. Wang, while asserting his country was happy with the progress that had been made, said his country was still studying the text before officially pronouncing on it. “With progress we are always satisfied, but if we work harder, we might make more progress,” he said.

Vitaly I. Churkin, the Russian ambassador, said, “I think we are on the right track, but we are not there yet.”

In Washington, officials, apparently confident of the imminent passage of the measure, announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to Asia next week to discuss how to implement the resolution, as well as to discuss other efforts to deter North Korean proliferation of a nuclear bomb or bomb-making materials. Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said Ms. Rice would travel to Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing.

The trip, he said, is “an opportunity for her in the region to reaffirm and talk about the strength of our existing alliances there, and also to have a bit more of a wider conversation with others in the region about the current situation, about the security situation, and also to talk broadly about nonproliferation efforts.”

Senior State Department officials portrayed the United Nations momentum toward a resolution as evidence of a united, multilateral front agreeing to punish North Korea.

“So the first issue we need to do is to make clear that the sense of outrage and condemnation by the international community to have a resolution in the Security Council, which will not only be a resolution condemning North Korea, but actually a resolution with some teeth to it,” said Christopher Hill, the assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs.

“North Korea needs to understand that this is indeed a very, very costly decision that will leave North Korea far worse off and far more isolated than ever before,” said Mr. Hill, speaking at a conference in Washington. “We need to give that message very clearly and make sure that North Korea cannot find any differences in our views. So I think so far, so good.”

The resolution condemns the test on Oct. 9 as a “flagrant disregard” of Security Council warnings, orders it not to conduct nuclear or missile tests, and urges the North to return to six-nation talks with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

It freezes funds overseas of people or businesses connected to the unconventional weapons programs and bans the sale of luxury goods to North Korea.

“I think the North Korean population has been losing height and weight over the years,” Mr. Bolton said. “Maybe this will be a little diet for Kim Jong-il,” he said, referring to the North Korean dictator.

Under the resolution, member states are to report to the Security Council within 30 days on steps they have taken to comply with the its demands.

The resolution still invokes Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which makes mandatory economic and diplomatic sanctions. China and Russia customarily resist the Chapter VII provision on the grounds that it sets a pretext for the use of military force, as many countries believe it did in Iraq.

But in a formulation used in July to obtain a unanimous vote on the resolution condemning the North Korean missile launches, the text added a reference to Article 41 of the chapter, which permits only “means not involving the use of military force.”

In another change designed to gain Chinese and Russian support, the resolution now says the inspection process will be “cooperative” with local authorities. Both countries were sensitive to such interdiction being done near their coasts and borders, but Mr. Bolton said that though the inspections covered air, sea and land shipments, he expected most actions would be performed in port.

As for the agreement struck to limit the arms embargo to specific weapons like missiles, tanks, attack helicopters, artillery systems, warships and combat aircraft, Mr. Bolton said, “That would place under embargo the most dangerous, most sophisticated, most lethal weapons, so that’s a substantial step forward, and, as I say, we’re happy to accept that as a compromise.”