U.N. statement would criticize rocket launch

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

NEW YORK — Japan and the United States are preparing a document that likely will be issued as a United Nations Security Council presidential statement criticizing North Korea when the reclusive nation launches a rocket next month, U.N. diplomatic sources said.

China has intimated it will oppose a new resolution aimed at condemning or imposing sanctions against North Korea. In light of this, the idea of a presidential statement — which is nonbinding and weaker than a resolution — has been tentatively posited, the sources said.

According to the sources, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations and other Chinese officials began visiting concerned countries’ diplomats at the U.N. headquarters last weekend, saying Beijing would oppose a new U.N. resolution against North Korea.

The Chinese diplomats reportedly said the launch would not violate extant U.N. resolutions as Pyongyang has claimed it will be launching a satellite.

When North Korea conducted missile and nuclear tests in 2006, the Security Council adopted resolutions prohibiting the country from further missile-related activities.