The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea’s successful rocket launch, saying it violated a 2009 council resolution banning “any launch using ballistic missile technology”.
The UN’s most powerful body said in a brief statement after closed consultations on Wednesday that it will consider “an appropriate response”.
The council said that after the North’s failed launch in April it demanded that Pyongyang halt all launches.
Just before the meeting, the US and its European allies called for the Security Council to deliver a strong reaction to Wednesday’s launch.
But whether China, North Korea’s closest ally, will agree to new sanctions remained unclear.
Sanctions
The successful rocket launch is widely seen as a test that takes North Korea one step closer to being capable of sending a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California.
North Korea officials say the rocket is meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns, and Pyongyang maintains its right to develop a civilian space programme.
The Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions against the North, following each of its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
After North Korea’s failed rocket launch in April, the council unanimously approved a presidential statement in which it expressed “its determination to take action accordingly in the event of a further DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] launch or nuclear test”.
Council diplomats have speculated that existing sanctions could be widened to include financial measures and target additional companies and individuals in North Korea.
The council could also consider measures that would lead to more robust implementation of sanctions, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private.
Aljazeera
