Security Council condemns N. Korea launch
UN's top body issues formal censure of Pyongyang's missile test; says it is 'weighing response'
The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned North Korea's missile launch and will continue discussions on how to respond to Pyongyang's violations of a UN ban on North Korean ballistic missile development, the council president said.
"Members of the Security Council condemned this launch, which is a clear violation of Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874," Moroccan UN Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki, president of the Security Council this month, told reporters.
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"Members of the Security Council will continue consultations on an appropriate response," he said after a closed-door meeting on the North Korean missile launch.
Loulichki recalled the council's April 2012 warning to Pyongyang that the council would act in the event of any further rocket launches.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also strongly condemned the launch as a "provocative act" in breach of Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang from developing ballistic-missile and nuclear technology.
Several council diplomats said they hoped the 15-nation body would consider adopting a binding resolution, possibly expanding existing UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
The White House said North Korea would face "consequences" for its rocket launch and that the United States would work with international partners to further isolate and punish Pyongyang.
"The president is concerned about North Korea's behavior," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "It has chosen not to (abide by its international obligations) and therefore there will be consequences for that."
Carney stopped short of specifying what actions Washington might be considering against North Korea, saying US officials first wanted to see what decisions were made by the UN Security Council.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice declined to comment on what the United States would like from the council but said Washington wanted a "clear and meaningful response."
"Members of the council must now work in a concerted fashion to send North Korea a clear message that its violations of UN Security Council resolutions have consequences," Rice told reporters. "In the days ahead, the United States will work with partners… to pursue appropriate action."
A senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea were among those who would like to see UN sanctions expanded.
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