U.N. Security Council To Hold Emergency Session Over North Korea

UN security council to hold emergency session

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/...705nations.php

The Associated Press
Published: July 5, 2006

TOKYO The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session Wednesday morning to discuss at Japan's request North Korea's missile tests, officials said.

Outraged over the pre-dawn test-firing of six missiles by its isolated, communist neighbor, Japan has urged the UN Security Council to take up the matter and has also warned that it might impose economic sanctions of its own.

The Security Council is expected to meet at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) to take up the matter, according to a spokesman for the French mission to the United Nations.

Japan is expected to present a resolution protesting North Korea's missile tests, according to another UN diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called for UN action and warned there was a "very high possibility" Tokyo would level economic sanctions against North Korea.

Aso and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed later in a telephone call that their countries would cooperate on addressing the issue through the United Nations, Kyodo News agency reported.

North Korea on Wednesday test-launched six missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 believed capable of reaching the United States. None of the missiles made it as far as Japan, all crashing into the Sea of Japan that separates the island nation from the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

Tokyo has been especially wary of its neighbor since 1998, when North Korea fired a Taepodong missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. Following protests over that test, Pyongyang had since 1999 observed a freeze on long-range missile launches.

TOKYO The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session Wednesday morning to discuss at Japan's request North Korea's missile tests, officials said.

Outraged over the pre-dawn test-firing of six missiles by its isolated, communist neighbor, Japan has urged the UN Security Council to take up the matter and has also warned that it might impose economic sanctions of its own.

The Security Council is expected to meet at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) to take up the matter, according to a spokesman for the French mission to the United Nations.

Japan is expected to present a resolution protesting North Korea's missile tests, according to another UN diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called for UN action and warned there was a "very high possibility" Tokyo would level economic sanctions against North Korea.

Aso and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed later in a telephone call that their countries would cooperate on addressing the issue through the United Nations, Kyodo News agency reported.

North Korea on Wednesday test-launched six missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 believed capable of reaching the United States. None of the missiles made it as far as Japan, all crashing into the Sea of Japan that separates the island nation from the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

Tokyo has been especially wary of its neighbor since 1998, when North Korea fired a Taepodong missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. Following protests over that test, Pyongyang had since 1999 observed a freeze on long-range missile launches.