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UNSC adopts statement on DPRK launch

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-14 08:57

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a presidential statement on the recent launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), saying it is "in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718" and urging the early resumption of the six-party talks.

The UN Security Council on April 13, 2009 adopted a presidential statement on the recent launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. [Xinhua]

In a non-binding statement, the 15-member council "condemns" the April 5 launch by the DPRK, reiterates that the DPRK "must comply fully with its obligations" under resolution 1718 and demands that the country "not conduct any further launch."

Related readings:  DPRK to withdraw from six-party talks  UN council set to condemn DPRK launch  Wen, Japanese PM discusses DPRK rocket launch  Japan formally decides on new sanction on DPRK  Diplomacy to 'ease DPRK tensions'

The council called for the "early resumption" of the six-party talks and "a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the situation."

The council also agreed to "adjust the measures imposed" in resolution 1718, which included asset freeze and arms embargo.

The text was agreed upon Saturday by the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and Japan after days of intense negotiations at the UN headquarters.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the statement, saying it "sends a unified message of the international community" on the launch.

Ban hopes the council's unified response "will pave the way for renewed efforts towards the peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues in the region," said a statement issued by Ban's press office.

China's UN Ambassador Zhang Yesui said the reaction from the Security Council has to be "cautious and proportionate."

"The reaction from the Security Council should be conducive to maintaining peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and conducive to the six-party talks and also to the process of denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula, and it should be also conducive to safeguarding the international nonproliferation regime," he told reporters.

The president of the Security Council for April, Mexican UN Ambassador Claude Heller, saw the statement as a "very positive text."

"I think it is very important that this presidential statement looks to the future in the sense that it is calling to resume the six-party talks as an essential element and appropriate forum to get agreement that would lead to a peaceful solution," Heller said.

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