N.Korea confirms missile tests; sanctions opposed
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-06 07:29 SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea confirmed
Thursday that it has "successfully" tested missiles and vowed to continue
launching them, calling them routine military drills aimed at strengthening the
country's defense.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry made the comments
in a statement one day after the country test-fired at least seven missiles,
including an abortive launch of a long-range Taepodong-2. The launches drew
international condemnation.
The statement said that North Korea has a
"legal right" to missile launches, which it called part of "regular military
drills to strengthen its self defense." It also said the launches are unrelated
to six-party talks aimed at persuading the country to abandon its nuclear
programs.
"The successful missile test was
part of a regular military exercise conducted by our military to boost our
self-defence," Yonhap news agency quoted a North Korean Foreign Ministry
spokesman as saying on KRT state television.
"If anyone tries to discuss
the rights and wrongs about (future tests) and apply pressure, we will be forced
to take physical actions of a different nature."
North Korea also vowed to take strong "physical action"
against any outside opposition to its missile launch drills.
It said the
tests conducted on Wednesday by Pyongyang's military were not related to stalled
six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programmes
China, Russia resist UN sanctions on North
Korea
UNITED NATIONS - China and Russia resisted an attempt in
the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea for its
missile launches Wednesday, saying only diplomacy could halt its nuclear and
rocket development programs.
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| Chinese Ambassador to the U.N. Wang Guangya arrives for a meeting
of the U.N. Security Council at the United Nations in New York, July 5,
2006. The U.N. Security Council met in closed session on Wednesday to
consider a response to a barrage of North Korean missile tests.
[Reuters] |
| Japan,
backed by the U.S. and Britain, circulated a resolution that would ban any
country from transferring funds, material and technology that could be used in
North Korea's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
China and Russia countered that they favor a weaker council statement without
any threat of sanctions. Both countries hold veto power in the council, making
sanctions unlikely.
North Korea, which has proclaimed itself a nuclear weapons state, has said
sanctions would amount to a declaration of war. China and Russia are clearly
concerned that a U.N. demand for such measures would only make the current
situation worse and delay a return to six-party talks. China and Russia are part
of the talks along with North and South Korea, the United States and Japan.
In a possible sign that Moscow's and Beijing's position may carry the day,
U.S. President Bush addressed the issue in a subdued manner without the harsh
warnings that he had issued as recently as last week when he said that a missile
launch would be unacceptable.
The failure of the Taepodong-2 missile - the object of intense international
attention for more than a month - suggested a failure of the rocket's
first, or booster, stage. A working version of the intercontinental missile
could potentially reach the United States with a light payload.
The North also fired six shorter-range missiles on Wednesday, arguing it had
the right to such launches. All of them apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea
of Japan.
Tokyo responded swiftly by barring North Korean officials from traveling to
Japan, and banned one of its trading boats from entering Japanese waters for six
months.
In South Korea, officials said Wednesday's tests would affect inter-Korean
initiatives such as the dispatch of food and fertilizer from the South to the
North, but stressed that diplomacy was the best way to solve the crisis.
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